One Piece: Adventures of the Spade Pirates
by Spartan007sh
Summary: Ace and Luffy decide to start a pirate crew together. Join them, and the people crazy enough to join their crew, as they go on adventures and complete their dreams. Currently on Hiatus, under going reconstruction.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Here is my second fanfic. This is going to be a long one for sure. I'm going to need characters for this though. I've already got friends to make me some for the crew and a few bad guys. Still need a cook and a shipwright and more bad guys. Got enough bounty hunters so mainly give me pirates or whatever else you can think of. I'll give you guys a template at the end. Also don't expect another chapter soon. Not going to upload another one till the end of February. Don't worry though, I will be working on it the entire time. I just want to give you guys a good story to read. Hoping to get East Blue done and start the Grand Line. But enough of me rambling enjoy the first chapter for what it's worth.

**Edit: I have a shipwright and cook now, just need bad guys. Also, please PM me your characters.**

One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

><p>It's a warm sunny day for the people of Goa Kingdom. At a secluded cove not far from Foosha village, a group of people stand there, waiting. "Where the hell is he, Makino?"<p>

Makino, a woman with dark green hair, her trademark bandanna tied around her head, replies, "He said he was going to visit 'his' grave. Give him some time, Ace."

Ace sighs. "Yeah, I guess so. Kinda wish he would hurry it up though. I mean, I did delay my departure by a year so he could come with me. And I did train him personally, so he would be stronger when we left." Ace reaches up, adjusting his orange cowboy hat, and wipes away the sweat from his forehead.

"I don't know why you two would want to be pirates. You're just going to ruin this village." States the mayor of Foosha.

"No, mayor, Luffy will. Technically, I`m not from your village," Ace says with a smirk. "Living with Dadan in the mountains exempts me from being part of YOUR village. Speaking of Dadan. Where is she?"

"She said she didn't want to come," Dogra replies to Ace "Don't know the reason though." he said as he shakes his head, looking sad.

Before Ace could say anything, everyone`s attention is drawn to a noise coming from the forest. After a while the sound of running is clear and getting louder, and laughter is heard too. Then, a dark haired boy wearing a straw hat emerges from the forest, laughing, being chased by a giant black bear. Everyone screams, "Luffy! You idiot!"

Luffy waves to everybody. "Oi! Everybody, we ready to go?"

Ace yells at Luffy, "Idiot!" and runs towards the bear. Jumping into the air, Ace comes back down, punching it in the head and knocking it out.

"Awww, Ace," Luffy says with a whine. "I was gonna take it out."

"Well, you should have done that before you brought it here." Ace says, slapping Luffy in the head.

"You guys ready to go?" asked Makino. The two guys nod. "Good, but remember you only have a week's supply of food. Don't eat it all at once."

"Yeah Luffy," Ace says.

"Hey, you eat a lot too." Luffy says, defending himself.

"Alright boys, settle down," Makino says, trying to calm the two brothers. "But Luffy's right. It goes for both of you."

Both the boys nod and jump into the boat. They unfurl the sail and start to take off. "Goodbye everyone! See you again soon," The boys say as they wave goodbye.

"Take care! Don't catch a cold," Makino says, waving with everyone else. Their waving stops and looks of horror come across their faces when they see a sea king appear before the boys.

"Watch out!" Yells the mayor.

Ace and Luffy turn around and when they see it, they don't look impressed. "Think you can let me have this one Ace?" Luffy asks.

"Sure." Ace says as he sat down.

Luffy grins and says. "Alright you bastard. This is for Shanks. Gomu Gomu no..." Luffy throws his arm back, stretching it, and brings it back, punching the sea king in the face. "Pistol!"

The sea king goes flying out of the water and lands right back in unconscious. "Nice punch, Luffy. You really have improved," Ace complements.

Everybody back on the island is shocked at how strong Luffy has become. Even with the shocked looks on their face, they all continue to wave.

Luffy faces Ace and smiles. "Alright, as the captain, I say we go this way." Luffy points in a random direction.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ace says as he gets up. "Who said you are the captain?"

"I did."

"Well your not."

"Why not! I'm the one going to be the Pirate King!"

"Yeah, but I'm stronger. You can't have the captain weaker than his crew. So I'm the captain."

"But I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

"I'm stronger!"

"Pirate King!"

"Stronger!"

The two continue to argue while the boat sails further away from the island. After a few hours, their stomachs growl and they stop to eat. This is when Ace noticed no islands are in sight. "Uhhh. Which way was it back home?" Ace asks, looking around.

"Why, you forget something?" Luffy asks with his mouth full of food, and mumbles, "and you want to be captain."

"Shut up. I'm just trying to get our bearings, because we lost sight of the island when we were arguing," Ace says still looking around.

"So."

"So? Luffy, were going to be lost."

"Oh well. Think of it as our first adventure as pirates," Luffy says with a cheerful tone and a smile on his face.

Ace smacks his forehead with his hand and says, "This, is going to be a long adventure."

* * *

><p><strong>AN****:** Here is the template.

Name:

Age:

Crew/Villain:

Occupation:(Pirate, Marine, etc)

Appearance:

Personality:

History:

Devil Fruit:(If any)

Attack Names/Special Attacks:(If any)

Weapons:

Dream:(if any)

If you feel like I'm missing something tell me. Also the crew members I already have are gunman, navigator, musician, swordsman, and doctor. Other than that I can't wait to see the characters you all create and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

******A/N** Now for the long awaited second chapter. Sorry it took so long, but like I said I wanted to make sure it was good. Unfortunately I didn't finish East Blue like I promised, but I am ahead. Got quite a bit done, but I am going to make this a weekly thing, just so I can stay ahead. Enough of me rambling now, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

A sail boat slowly moves along the current, to an island. The boat finally reaches the shore, and stops along the beach. Ace sits up, yawns, and wipes away the sleep from his eyes. He looks around and notices the beach. "Hmm, must have fell asleep," Ace looks over at a sleeping Luffy and shakes him. "Oi, Luffy wake up. Were on an island."

Luffy also sits up, his straw hat falling off his face. He stretches his arms, yawns, and puts his hat back on. Looking over at the beach, Luffy jumps up in excitement. "Yeah, our first adventure!" He hops out of the boat and proceeds to run around the beach.

"Hold on Luffy, wait for me." Ace says as he hops out of the boat and pulls it up more onto the beach, so it won't go sailing off without them. With that done, Ace reaches in and puts on his hat.

"Come on Ace!" Luffy yells farther down the beach. "I'm hungry!"

Ace sighs, and jogs to catch up to Luffy. After a couple of hours, the boys start to get worried. They haven't heard or seen anything, except for a few animals. "Maybe, we're on a desolate island?" Ace asked.

Luffy shrugged, and they kept on walking. A few more minutes and the boys finally reach a village, but it looks deserted. "There is nobody here," Luffy says.

"Wonder why that is?" Ace asked, scratching his head.

"Maybe they're idiots."

Ace sighs and walks into the village. Walking down the street, Ace notices that some window shutters close shut, and it's not because of the wind. _Okay, so it's not deserted. Wonder why they're scared of us?_Ace thought.

Continuing down the street, they hear a gunshot. Ace and Luffy share a look, raise their eyebrows, but continue walking. Finding a bar, they walk in, and see a bartender, standing there cleaning a glass. Luffy immediately ran to the bar, and ordered meat. Lots of meat. Ace sits down next to Luffy and orders some food as well. Ace couldn't shake off the feeling something is wrong here. When the bartender comes back with the food he asks. "You guys passing through, or staying?"

"Passing through," Ace says. "Probably get some supplies, then move on."

"Why aren't we staying?" Luffy asks.

"Does this place look like it's set for an adventure?"

"Well either way," The bartender says, getting their attention. "I'd get going if I were you."

"Why is that?" Ace asks.

"A bandit group owns this village. They charge a high tax for the people living here, and an even higher one, for those who are travelling through." The bartender explains.

"That explains the odd feeling I have," Ace says. "What happens to those who don't pay?"

"They drag them to the centre of the village, and execute them." The bartender closes his eyes, looking like he lost someone close to him. "They make the people watch, as an example."

Ace nods his head and continues to eat, not wanting to push the issue. When Luffy finishes, he asks for more. The bartender complies. After a few minutes, a group of loud people walk in. One of them yells for food and drinks. They all sit down at a large table in the corner. The bartender comes out with drinks, and gives each man one. One says. "Come on boss, tell the story again."

"Alright, alright," A tall man with a red bandanna, around his neck, wearing a long overcoat starts. "So I go to the meeting place, to give the bastard his money, but he has the nerve to send someone else."

A bunch of 'ohhhhs' are said around the table. "Then what?" one asks.

"I ask him, 'where is your boss?', and so he tells me that he is busy. Busy!" The man throws his arms in the air. The bartender comes back with their food. "What a load of shit. So I pull out my gun, and shoot the bastard."

The others explode into laughter and one says. "Bastard got whats coming"

"Shut up, the story is not over." The tall one says in an authoritative tone. They all shut up. "So, the guy is on his knees, holding his gut. I tell him to get out of my sight, and to tell his boss that if he wants his money, he can come get it himself."

The group cheers. Clanking glasses, a few telling him 'way to go, boss.' the group continues to drink and eat. The bartender looks at Luffy and says. "You guys might want to leave. Now that their busy."

"Uh huh, sure." Luffy says, continuing to eat with more food on his plate.

The bartender wonders where Luffy got the extra food, but forgets about it when he looks over at Ace and sees that he has fallen asleep, face first into his food. "Is he okay?" the bartender asks, pointing to Ace.

Luffy nods. "Yep, he'll be fine. Happens every once in a while."

Hearing the door open, the bartender looks up at the new customer. A marine. Eyes wide, the bartender stammers. "C-can I help you, sir?"

The marine ignores him and looks at the group of men. "Gorou!" He shouts.

The group stops talking and look over at the marine. The tall man stands up and says. "Lieutenant Makoto. How are you?"

"Don't give me that bull crap Gorou." The marine said intimidating. "Tell me why, my man came back wounded. I had a hell of a time, getting my idiot of a captain to not come here."

Gorou walks up to the lieutenant, trying to not look intimidated, even though he is taller. "We had a deal. I rule this village, while you keep the marines looking the other way, and I pay you a share of the money, I collect."

"That doesn't explain why, the man I sent got shot." Makoto says stepping closer to Gorou.

Gorou swallows the lump in his throat and says. "I'm not going to give my money, to one of your lackeys. You are to come collect the money. Nobody else."

Makoto punches Gorou in the gut, dropping him to his knees. Grabbing his head, Makoto brings it to his knee, knocking Gorou to the ground. The others get up to help, but Gorou puts his hand up to stop them. Makoto puts his foot on Gorous head, and says. "You don't tell ME what to do. I tell YOU what to do, and it doesn't matter who I send, you will give them the money. Or next time, you will end up a lot worse. Got it?"

Gorou does his best to nod and says. "Got it."

Makoto takes his foot off, and says. "Good. Now give me, my money, and a little extra more, for my troubles."

Gorou sighs and takes the bag of money out of his coat pocket, and hands it to Makoto. Taking out his wallet, Gorou gives him some more money. Makoto 'clears' his throat. Gorou gives him more. Makoto does it again, and does a hand gesture for more. Gorou hands him the rest of his money. "Thank you. See you next month." Makoto says leaving.

Gorou sighs, and sits down. "Bastard."

Luffy turns back around, after the little scene. Ace lifts his head from his plate and wipes the food away, and goes back to eating.

"What the hell!" One of the bandits yells. "Someone is stealing my food." Looking around, he notices Ace and Luffy. "You!" He says, pointing at them, surprised they are there.

Luffy points at himself. "Us?" he asks, with food in his mouth.

* * *

><p>Hope you guys enjoyed and also, I still need a cook and shipwright and bad guys. So send me some and remember DETAIL is important, even though I might not tell the bad guys back story, I still want a detailed one. Other than that, please review and have a good day.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N  
><strong>I present to you, the third chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it. Again I need a cook and shipwright for the crew and bad guys, detail is good, more the better.

**Chapter 3**

"What the hell!" One of the bandits yell. "Someone is stealing my food." Looking around, the bandit notices Ace and Luffy. "You!" he says, pointing at them, surprised they are there.

Luffy points at himself, "Us?" He asks, with food in his mouth.

"Yes, you," the bandit says getting up. "How long have you been there?"

"Before you guys showed up." Luffy says, still eating.

The bandit walks over to them, "You travellers?" the two nod. The bandit puts his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Well, there's a travellers fee, you HAVE to pay."

"Can't they just leave?" The bartender asks.

The bandit draws his sword, and points it at the bartender. "Shut up," he says, the bartender puts his hands up. "and no, they can't."

"Well that's too bad," Ace says. "We don't have any money." He takes a bite out of his food.

The bandit points his sword at Ace. "Then I guess we're going to have to teach you a lesson."

Outside, Lieutenant Makoto, walks down the street counting the extra bit of money. "Nine thousand beri," he said counting the last bill. "not too bad."

Hearing a crash behind him, Makoto stops. Turning around, he sees one of the bandits getting up off the ground. "What the hell?" he asks.  
>Ace stands there, staring off with the other bandits, all up and ready to attack and Luffy is still sitting there, eating. The guy outside come running back in. Charging towards Ace, he is stopped when a foot met his chest. "Why don't we take this outside." Ace says.<p>

Gorou nods. "Understandable. Don't want to destroy the only bar in the village."

Ace grabs Luffy by his collar, and drags him outside. "Hey, I'm not done."

Outside, Ace and Luffy stand in the middle of the street, surrounded by the bandits. "Gorou!" They hear someone yell. Looking down the street, they see Makoto. "What the hell is going on?"

"Lieutenant," Gorou says facing Makoto. "I was just handling some travellers, unwilling to pay." Turning back to his men. "Get 'em boys."

A tall, skinny bandit swings his sword down, at Ace. Ace backs up and delivers a punch to his face. Luffy dodges a swing, and kicks a big bellied guy in gut. Ace and Luffy continue to easily take down the bandits, when they are down to a few, one pulls out a gun and points it at Luffys head. "Don't move." He threatens.

Ace looks over and shrugs his shoulders. "Go ahead, do it."

A loud bang is heard, as the bandit pulls the trigger without hesitation. Luffy, loses his balance, and hops on one foot. regaining his balance, everyone sees the long stretch of skin coming from Luffys head, as the bullet keeps on going. Once it stops, the bullet launches back to the shooter. The remaining bandits are taken aback, scared. One of them asks if he is a monster. Even Gorou looks confused. Makoto stares at them, like they are a bunch of idiots, he says. "You fools. He only has a devil fruit ability. All you have to do is pick him up and toss him into the ocean. He'll sink like a hammer."

"The rest of you stay out of this." Gorou says, taking off his coat. "I'll handle them."

The remaining bandits cheer for their leader. "Your not gonna handle both." Makoto says, moving next to Gorou. "I'll take on that one." He says, pointing at Ace.

"What, you're giving me the kid?"

"Your lucky to be fighting at all."

Gorou looks over at Luffy, and sees him standing there, picking his nose. Out of frustration, Gorou charges him. Seeing the tall guy come at him, Luffy prepares to punch. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol." Luffy throws his punch, and his arm stretches until it hits Gorou in the face.

Gorou stops, and puts his hand up to his nose. Glad it's not broken, or bleeding, he continues his charge, leading up to a punch of his own. Luffy dodges the punch and delivers a kick to Gorous gut, dropping him to his knees. Holding his gut, Gorou gets back up on shaky legs. '_Damn it, what's with this kids strength?' _Gorou thought. Wildly throwing punches, Luffy easily dodges them all. Unable to get a punch in, without getting hit himself, Luffy decides to kick upwards. Hitting Gorou in the jaw, stopping him, Luffys foot continues to go up, "Gomu Gomu no..." Luffy brings his foot down, slamming his heel into Gorou. "Ono."

Gorou lies on the ground, unconscious. Makoto sighs. "He really was an incompetent fool." Looking over at the boys, he says. "But all this happened because of you. Now I'm going to lose all my extra money."

Ace points over at Gorou. "He started it."  
>"I don't care who started it." Makoto says, with his voice rising. "First I'll deal with you, then the kid." Makoto charges.<p>

Ace stands in place, not even remotely afraid of his opponent. When Makoto gets close enough, Ace slams his foot into his chest knocking him down, knocking the wind out of him. Makoto lays on the ground, trying to get his breath. After a few moments he gets back up. He goes for a swing, but Ace easily dodges. Another swing, another dodge. Makoto getting frustrated with every moment. Finally hitting the breaking point, he pulls a gun on Ace. "I didn't want to do this," He says panting. "But you've forced my hand."

Luffy takes a few steps before Ace puts a hand up to stop him. "It's not going to make a difference," Ace says, starring Makoto in the eyes. "I've handled situations like this."

"Shut up!" Makoto says pulling the trigger.

Ace dodges and delivers a quick punch to Makotos jaw, knocking him out. Ace goes to walk away, but stops when he sees a group of marines walking down the street. "This might not be good." Ace says.

When the marines reach them one of them asks. "Mind telling me why you attacked a marine?"

"He attacked me first." Ace says defending himself.

"Right, that's what they all say." the marine says, not believing it. Looking around he says. "Then I guess all these people knocked themselves out."

"They attacked us," Luffy says. "Whats hard to believe."

"Because there our lieutenant is lying unconscious. Obviously you attacked these people and he had to help defend them."

Ace sighs, getting frustrated with the marine defending the corrupt bastard."They are telling the truth." They hear a voice from behind, it's the bartender. "I saw it all, and I can tell you" As he points. "that marine is corrupt."

The marines goes to respond, but gets cut off when people are coming out of their homes saying they all saw it too. The marine tries to think of something to say to defend the lieutenant, but can't come up with anything. "Mind explaining it to me." A voice calls out from behind the group of marines.

They all move out of they way and salute, as a captain walks through. The bartender explains everything. Makoto coming in and demanding the money, Gorou explaining the deal they had and how the fight broke out. "Well then, that is some story." the captain says rubbing his chin. He seems to mull over the story and finally says. "Alright, lock up Makoto and the bandits. Let the other two go."

Everyone cheers as their heroes are allowed to go free. "Lets party!" Luffy shouts. Gathering into the streets, everyone brings food and drinks. Laughing, drinking, and dancing goes on well into the night. Stories go back and forth of how the bandits got locked up. Everyone is having a good time.

After a night of partying, and then getting supplies from the people of the village, it's time the boys set off. Everyone from the village wave them off and some of the marines, who are now guarding the village. Ace and Luffy wave back, but Luffy stops when he hears one of the villagers call them heroes. "Hero? I don't want to be a hero." He says.

"Why not? I thought you like heroes?" Ace asks.

"Yeah, but I'm suppose to be a pirate, not a hero." Luffy says, then smirks. He takes a deep breath and then yells. "My Name Is Monkey D. Luffy And I'm Gonna Be The Pirate King!"

Everyone at shore stops waving and the marines jaws drop. Even Ace stops. Seeing the marines running to the harbour, Ace says. "Damn it Luffy." he picks up the oars and starts to paddle real fast.

Luffy stands there, continues to wave and laughs.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Hope you liked it, never done a fight scene before. Anyways please leave a review, I always appreciate those and thanks to all who have. Again please give send in a cook and a shipwright whenever possible. I'm not exactly at the point where I need them, but I like to plan ahead. Thanks and have a good day.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N **This is the shortest chapter yet. To make up for that I will upload another in a couple days. Again I still need a cook, shipwright and bad guys.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

"When are we going to get to the next island?" Luffy groans, flopping on the deck of the boat. "I'm so bored." Snacking on everything.

"It's only been three days," Ace says. "It's going to take awhile, and stop eating the food!" Slapping Luffy in the back of his head.

"But I'm hungry." Luffy whines.

"It's because your bored." Ace says.

"I feel hungry." Luffy mutters. With nothing to do, Luffy decides to take a nap. Once he wakes up he sees that Ace too, is napping. Luffy decides to take the opportunity to eat some food, again. Getting up he notices, what looks like an island on the horizon. "Adventure!" He yells, picking up the oars and rapidly rowing to get there faster.

Ace wakes up, looking up at the sky and notices the clouds going by, very fast. Looking around he sees Luffy rowing the boat. "What are you doing, Luffy?" Ace asks.

"Adventure." Was all Luffy needed to say for Ace to understand.

Getting up Ace sees the island, and it's rapidly approaching. "Uh, Luffy, slow down. Your going to hit the island." But it was too late. The boat hit the shore, sending Ace flying.

Luffy jumps off the boat and screams. "We're here!" Luffy looks down and sees Aces head stuck in the sand. "What are you doing with your head in the sand, Ace?"

Ace yanks his head out and yells. "It was your fault!"

Luffy laughs, "Come on, lets go." Luffy says running off down the beach.

Ace sighs, and follows him. It wasn't long until they found a town, this one much more busy than the last. Going in, the two look around. All around them are vendors trying to sell their goods, people all around buying, selling, or trading. What worried the boys, was the amount of marines walking around, and the marine base up in the distance. Ace was wondering if they would be recognized, from Luffy's big mouth, shouting he will be the Pirate King. Deciding to stock up on food they go from vendor to vendor, stocking up on what they can. Bringing it back to their boat. Heading back to town, to look around, they overhear a conversation between two marines. "Did you hear?" One asks. That gets Aces attention, wondering if it relates to what Luffy said. "We got a new transfer in." Ace relaxes slightly.

"Really?" The second asks. "Where are they from?"

"Remember that island that got sacked, a couple years back?" The first asks.

"The one where almost all the marines fled?" The second asks.

"That's the one." the first replies, looking at something before moving along.

Ace tunes out the rest of the conversation, until a man wearing a brown cloak, and a fedora, walks up to the marines. What stood out to Ace, was his red eyes. "Where is the transfer!" The man demands.

"Huh, what are you talking about?" The second marine asks.

"The transfer you were just talking about, where is he?" The mysterious man asks.

"Last I saw he was up there." The first marine points to the marine base. The man looks up at the base, and walks away. "Your welcome, ass."

Ace turns to leave, but notices Luffy is missing. Looking around he sees him walking to the mysterious man. "Who are you looking for?" Luffy asks.

"None of your business." The man says.

Luffy walks in front of him and says, "I'm Luffy." holding out his hand to shake.

The man stares at Luffy before saying, "Andon." then he walks past Luffy and continues on without saying anything.

"Strange guy." Luffy says, watching him leave.

"You're strange." Ace says, walking away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **Lets see who can guess this Andon guy is going to be. Other than that please review. Andon belongs to my friend.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N **Now for a longer chapter to make up for the last one, but a few things need mentioning. First, thanks to all who have reviewed. Those help a lot. Second, I know I have been saying I need a cook, shipwright, and bad guys for every chapter, but really I am in no rush for them right now. So take your time with those characters and add as much detail as you can, without making them boring. Those who have sent in characters are not ruled out, unless told other wise. Right now i just want to compare. Third, please review.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

The mysterious man, named Andon, quickly walks to the entrance of the marine base. At the front gate stands two guards. Andon walks up to one and says. "I understand that a marine got transferred here, recently."

The marine nods. "Aye, that is true."

"I want to speak with him."

"Who's asking?" The marine asks, wary of the man in front of him.

"Andon McElroy. He will know who I am."

The marine doesn't say anything, thinking if he should let this man, covered head to toe, see the new marine. Finally, he looks over at the other guard and nods to the base. The other marine goes in to retrieve the man. Andon nods his thanks. After awhile the guard comes back with the marine. The man is of average build, shaved head. He doesn't notice Andon at first, until the borwn cloak is removed, revealing red pants with a black stripe on the side, red zipped vest, black fingerless gloves with red arm guards, and black dragon tattoos going up both arms. The marine smiles. "Andon, you're alive."

"Yeah, I am," Andon says, with a very serious tone. "But many people are not. Many people that should be, but are not, and it's all your fault. And the many others who ran." Getting angrier and angrier with each word.

"Hey, Andon, come on, calm down." The marine says, putting up his hands trying to calm him down. "It isn't like you to get this angry. Besides, that was two years ago."

"Stay calm?" Andon nearly shouts. "How can I stay calm, when a man in front of me, who is in the marines, let people die." A crowd of people show up, wondering what's going on.

"I'm sorry, okay?" The marine says, knowing what he did was wrong. "If I could go back I would, but I can't. Nothing can change what we did."

"No. Nothing can, but someone needs to pay," Andon points a finger at the marine. "And right now, that is you." The tip of Andon's finger glows and shoots what can only be described as a laser. The laser hits the marine in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Though not visible, people can see that he is hurt. The other marines eyes go wide, unsure of what has happened.

Ace and Luffy stand in the crowd, that has gotten bigger, watching the whole scene play out in front of them. When Andon fired the laser, Luffy's jaw dropped and stars formed in his eyes from amazement. "I want him in our crew." Luffy says

Ace sighs and continues to watch. The 'shot' marine gets back up, only to be shot back down again. Finally the others react and help the hurt marine. Some of them try to arrest Andon, but he shoots them down too. More marines come out of the base, and attack Andon. Andon manages to take down a few using his powers, but eventually loses, getting pinned to the ground. "Still want him in the crew?" Ace asks, looking over at Luffy.

Luffy grins and says. "Yep."

Luffy runs out of the crowd and attacks the marines. Ace slams his hand into his face and says. "Damn it, Luffy." Ace too, joins in the fight.  
>Taking out the low ranking marines was surprisingly easy for the two boys. "Must be a peaceful island, these guys barely know how to fight." Ace says.<p>

Luffy runs over to Andon and tries to take off the handcuffs. Luffys tugs and pulls in every direction, but to no avail. "You're that kid from before, why are you helping me?" Andon asks.

"Because your powers are cool." Luffy says, with stars in his eyes.

Ace walks over and casually breaks the chain on the handcuffs. "He likes you, and wants you in our crew."

"Crew?"

"Who the hell is attacking the base!" A voice booms.

The three look over at the base and see a big pot-bellied man, walking over to them, wearing an officer's coat. With him is another officer, very skinny in appearance. "Now this might get difficult," Ace says with a smirk. "Mind if we take them on?" Looking over his shoulder at Andon.

Andon shakes his head. "No, go ahead. Not much of a up close and personal fighter. Rather be at a distance."

"I said, who the hell is attacking the base!" The big man shouts again.

"Names Ace," Ace points at Luffy, "This here's my brother Luffy. And you are?"

"Commander Eiji," The big man says. "I am currently in charge of this base, while the captain is away," Eiji points to the skinny man. "This is Lieutenant Kaede, my second in command."

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way. Lets start this fight."

"Aye, I agree." Eiji says, charging towards Ace.

The big man moved faster than expected, shocking Ace and manages to punch him, knocking him to the ground. Eiji picks Ace up, and throws him into the wall surrounding the base. Picking himself up Ace says, "Well, I wasn't expecting that." Shaking his head.

"Not very many people do." Eiji says, charging Ace again.

Ace rolls to the side and kicks out Eiji's legs, causing him to fall over to the side. Ace quickly moves out of the way of the falling man. Eiji gets back up, only to be knocked back, by Ace kicking him in the gut. Eiji goes flying through the wall.

* * *

><p>Luffy stands in the same position as he watched the skinny man stand there, in some sort of meditative trance. Luffy yawns, looking over at Ace's fight, he sees Ace trip the guy. Getting tired of his opponent taking his time. "Fine, I'll throw the first punch. Gomu Gomu no Pistol." Luffy says, throwing a punch. His arm stretches straight for Kaede's face. At the last second Kaede moves his head, dodging the fist.<p>

"Soru." Kaede whispers. He disappears for a second and reappears in front of Luffy, delivering a strong punch, for a man his size, to Luffy's gut, causing him to almost double over.

Luffy brings back his hand, grabbing Kaede's head and slamming it into his. Kaede nearly falls back, but catches himself and backs away from Luffy, holding his forehead. "That was a cool trick you did." Luffy says. "Can you show me how to do it?"

"Sure," Kaede says, going back into his meditation. Luffy sighs, thinking this fight is going to take forever. "Soru." Kaede appears in front of Luffy again, catching off guard. This time Kaede uppercuts him. Luffy uses this to stretch his neck, sending his head into the air. Bringing his head back, causing his straw hat to fall off, Luffy slams it in Kaede's head. Kaedes stumbles back, holding his head. "What is it with you hitting my head?" He asks, breathing a bit heavy.

Luffy shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, it just happens."

"Can you stop?" Kaede asks.

"No promises," Luffy smiles, raising his fists. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol." Luffy launches his fist towards Kaede. Not being fast enough Kaede takes it in the gut. Luffy retracts his fist, and sends his foot into the air. "Gomu Gomu no..." Luffy brings his foot down towards Kaede. "Ono."

Kaede dodges the attack, and goes into a slow run towards Luffy, fists raised. Luffy brings back his foot, and goes for a punch when Kaede reaches him. Kaede blocks Luffy's punch with one hand, turns around, and slams his elbow into his opponents gut. Luffy takes a step back, holding his gut. '_I think it's about time to finish this.'_ Luffy thinks.  
>He kicks Kaede in the gut sending him back a few steps. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol." Luffy goes to punch Kaede, but misses. Kaede dodges the punch and grabs Luffy's arm, throwing him up into the air. Right when Luffy is above Kaede, he stretches his other arm and grabs Kaede. "Gomu Gomu no..." Luffy launches himself towards Kaede. "Rocket."<p>

* * *

><p>Ace looks over at his brother, and sees him slamming his head into his opponent. Ace watches Luffy's precious hat fall to the ground. "Andon," Ace says getting his attention. "Can you grab that?" Pointing to the straw hat. Andon nods and runs over to get it. Ace walks over to the hole his opponent made, to check if he was defeated. Unexpectedly Eiji bursts through the hole, clotheslining Ace. "Damn, you are fast for a man your size." He says getting up.<p>

"I take pride in my speed." Eiji says, pumping his chest.

"Ain't gonna mean anything when you lose." Ace says, charging.

"We'll see, Soru." Eiji disappears and reappears in front of Ace, grabbing his head and slamming it into the ground. Grabbing Ace's ankle, Eiji swings Ace over his head and slams him into the ground. Ace brings his knees to his chest, getting closer to Eiji, and strikes with his free foot. Eiji reels back from the attack, letting go of Ace. "Son of a-" Eiji says grabbing his face. "That was a neat trick boy."

"That disappearing act was a neat trick."Ace says, getting up. "Mind telling me what that was."

"It's called Soru, one of many techniques in the marines." Eiji explains. "Let me show it to you again, Soru."

Eiji appears again in front of Ace and goes for a punch. Ace dodges it and gives a few jabs into Eiji's stomach following with a strong punch. Eiji nearly doubles over. Ace crouches down getting ready for another attack. Jumping into the air, Ace uppercuts Eiji right in the jaw, sending him up into the air. Just before Eiji hits the ground, Ace kicks upward hitting him in the back, sending him back into the air. This time Eiji comes back down unconscious.

Ace takes a deep breath, and looks over to where Luffy is fighting and sees nothing but a dust cloud. Luffy walks out of it coughing, from the dust. The wind blows the dust away and reveals Luffy's opponent lying in a small crater unconscious. Luffy gives his trademark smile before realizing his hat is not on his head. "Hat?" Luffy asks looking around. "Hat? Hat?"

"Here," Andon holds out the hat. "Picked this up for you."

Luffy puts his hat back on his head, and smiles.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **I am liking these dividers. I enjoyed writing this fight, hope it wasn't too early to show those techniques. Don't think they will show up again for a while. Hope you guys enjoyed and remember to leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** Hello again. Still need a cook, shipwright, and bad guys, but not in a huge rush for them. So take your time, and enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Andon stands in amazement. He could not have taken those two marines by himself. Let alone the big group they fought, effortlessly. The two boys saunter over to him and Ace says. "Come on, lets go."

They run back into town, getting away from the marines. Turning into an alleyway, Andon asks. "So, what, are you guys pirates or something?"

"Yep," Luffy answers. "wanna join?"

"Join, a pirate crew?" Andon says almost as if the idea is foolish. "Never."

"Why not?" Luffy asks, sounding offended.

"I have my reasons."

"Well it's not like you have much choice," Ace says, casually. "After what happened at the base, they might think you're with us. Plus if you go solo, you will have marines after you."

Andon sighs. "True, going to be hard to try and survive that on my own."

"We're not like regular pirates either," Luffy says. "we don't go around doing all that bad stuff."

"Bad stuff? You just attacked marines." Andon says bewildered that Luffy said that.

"And?" Luffy plainly says.

Andon looks at him like he is an idiot.

"What Luffy is trying to say is," Ace says. "We don't attack civilians." Pointing to the crowd of people walking by the alley. "We might attack marines, but that's only if they get in our way." Ace explained. "We're not ordinary pirates."

"So, what's it gonna be?" Luffy asks. "You gonna join us?"

Andon leans against a wall and thinks. '_these guys do make a good point. After today the marines will probably be after me. Not gonna survive long on my own. Plus if I want to find him, I will have a better chance with them.'_Andon pushes himself off the wall and says. "Yeah, I'll join."

"YEAH!" Luffy shouts out of excitement, dancing in joy.

Ace sticks his hand out and says. "Welcome to the crew."

Andon shakes his hand and asks. "Thanks, but which one of you is the captain?"

"I am." They both say at the same time.

Ace sighs, and shakes his head. "Luffy I told you, I am stronger so that makes me the captain."

"And I told you that I am going to be the Pirate King."

"You're going to be the Pirate King?" Andon asks shocked.

"Yep." Luffy says with a big smile. "What's your dream?"

"Dream?" Andon asks, thinking for a bit. "I've never really had a dream. There is a man I want to find and defeat, but that's not really a dream."

"What are you good at?" Ace asks.

"I'm an excellent sharpshooter." Andon boasts.

"Then maybe you can aim for being the best," Ace says, "Get it, 'aim' for the best. Get it?" Luffy doubles over in laughter, but Andon just stares at Ace. "Alright, lets get out of here." Ace says walking away.

"You guys have a boat right?" Andon asks.

The guys reach the beach, where Ace's and Luffy's boat is. Andon stares at how small it is, arching an eyebrow. "It's kinda small." Andon says trying not to be offensive.

"So?" Luffy asks. "Do you have a bigger boat?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then let's use that," Ace says picking up whatever supplies they have. "would have been too cramped in this thing anyway."

They walk back over to the harbour, with Andon in the lead, and the boys get a good look at the boat. It was bigger, and it had a cabin. Ace dumps the stuff he was carrying, "Alright, lets get out of here. Luffy," Ace says, pointing to the mast. "get the sails ready."

Luffy stretches his arms to get to the top, and unfurls the sails. After a few minutes they are on their way. "Alright, as captain," Luffy says, jumping down. "I say we go this way."

"Luffy, I told you," Ace faces Luffy, "I'm the captain." Pointing to himself.

"No, I'm the captain." Luffy says getting in Ace's face.

Andon ignores the two, and goes up to the crows nest. Starring out to the ocean he think, '_They may be idiots, but they seem reliable. I will definitely have a better chance at finding that man this way.'_

**2 years ago**

A group of marines stand outside, looking up to the top of the marine base. "Think he can do it?" one of the marines asks.

"Of course he can." A man with blue hair boasts. "He's my son. He can shoot anything, from any distance."

"Well it's been like, five minutes," Another marine says. "he hasn't even fired a shot." As if right on cue, three shots go off. "Humph, took him long enough."

A figure stand up on the roof of the marine base and walks away. After a few minutes, a slightly younger Andon appears. "How did I do?" He asks.

"Lets go find out." Andon's dad says, waving his hand to follow.

When the group get to the targets, all of theirs eyes go wide. All three are close to the bulls-eye. Andons dad laughs. "Haha! That's my boy." Patting Andon on the back. "Even better than his old man."

"Damn Andon," one of the marines says, inspecting the targets. "Why don't you join the marines?"

"I'm not very strong. I don't really like fighting up close," Andon says a bit embarrassed. "There's no way I'll survive."

"With skills like these, I'm sure they would make an exception."

Andon shrugs. "Oh well."

"McElroy!" Someone shouts from the base.

"Captain!" Andons dad yells back.

"Your ship leaves in an hour, what the hell are you still doing here!" The captain says.

"Just admiring my sons skills." Andons dad says back. "Well time for me to go," he ruffles Andons hair. "see you later kiddo."

"See ya, dad." Andon waves bye, as his dad picks up his bags and leaves the marine base.

"Come on, lets get some lunch." one of the marines says. "I'm hungry."

**A few days later**

Andon aims down the sight of the rifle. Waiting for the heavy wind to die down, for him to take the shot. Once it does, he quickly adjusts his aim and takes the shot. Not a bulls-eye, but close. Andon gets up to put the gun away, when he sees a large group of marines coming in to the base. They have wounded, and what looks like a prisoner. He wondered who they were, when it hit him. That's the unit his dad went with. He looks for his dad, but doesn't see him. Curious, he walks over to the marines and asks. "Where is my dad?"

A marine holding a box looks over at him and was surprised. "Andon, your here?"

"Yeah, I'm here every Saturday," Andon says a bit annoyed the guy didn't answer his question. "Where is my dad?" He asks again.

The marine sighs, and Andon already fears the worst. "Your dad was captured by pirates." The marine says, not bothering to sugar coat it. "We don't know if he is dead or not." Andon was shocked, he was happy his dad is not dead, but he could be any minute. The marine sets the box down, and reaches into his pocket, "We did manage to get these," he pulls out dog tags. "I'm sure your dad would want you to have them."

Andon takes the dog tags and says. "You say that as if he's already dead."

The marine picks up the box and says. "He could be, for all we know. I'm sorry." the marine walks over to the base.

The next couple days, Andon didn't go back to the base. He stayed in his room, only coming out for food. "Andon, honey?" His mom asks opening his door. "Why don't you go outside?" Andon mumbles something back. "What was that?"

"I don't understand why they don't go after the pirates." Andon says, lifting his head from a pillow, "They haven't even left." looking out his window, to the harbour.

"I miss your father too," His mom says, sitting next to him. "But what can we do?"

"Tell them to go get him." Andon says, playing with the dog tags around his neck.

"You could," His mom says. "but we are not the ones in charge. I'm sure they are planning on how to get him, right now."

Andon gets out of his bed and says, "Don't care who's in charge, I will go and convince them myself." Walking out of his house, Andon goes up to the marine base. Once he got to the entrance, everyone is running around. Going in, Andon tries to get the attention of any marine walking by, but they ignore him. Getting angry that he is being ignored, and wondering whats going on, he grabs a marines arm. "What's going on?"

"Andon?" The marine asks. "Quickly, grab a gun."

"What?" Andon asks, wondering why he need to get a gun. "Why, what is going on?"

"Pirates." The marine says pointing to the water.

Andon looks over to the water and his eyes go wide. The marine is right, pirates are attacking. And not just one ship, but four. Andon didn't hear the first cannon shot, his heart was pumping so loud. Snapping out of his daze when the marine captain shoves a gun in Andon's arms. "Come on, we have a town to protect."

* * *

><p>Was originally going to have his past explained in one chapter, but then I would have a very long chapter. I'm sure you guys would have loved that, but I need to keep myself ahead. Please review.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N **Not much to say other than happy Easter everybody. Bit early but oh well. Still need the sames things like always. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Andon stood in place, a gun in his hands, to scared to move. '_Pirates are attacking,'_ Andon thought. '_I can't deal with this. I can barely even fight.'_Andon snaps out of his thoughts when he hears his name. "Yes?" He responds.

The captain grabs his shoulders and says. "If you can't do this, then that's fine. At least go home and get your mother."

Andons eyes went wide. His mom is at home. Andon nods and takes off running towards his house, taking the gun for protection. Following a group of marines, who seem to be running for the harbour. They round a corner and come face to face with a group of pirates. Both sides open fire, but Andon ducks behind a barrel. He watches as the marines go down, one by one. The shooting stops and the pirates stand victorious. "Lousy marines," one of the pirates says. "It shocks me that they were able to capture Mir."

Wondering who Mir was, Andon thought back to when his dad's unit came back. The prisoner must have been him. "It doesn't matter." Another says, snapping Andon from his thoughts. "We're gonna get him back, besides, I'm in the mood for a good women."

Andons eyes went wide from what the guy had just said. Thinking that women could be his mother, Andon gets out of cover and shoots the pirates in the back. He was able to get a few before one managed to get a shot on him. Andon dropped his gun, and fell to his knees. Looking down, he sees that he had been shot in the stomach. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, sees a pirate in front of him. "Let him bleed." One says, before the one standing in front of him knocks him out.

Andon lays on the ground slipping in and out of consciousness. One of those times, he sees a figure standing above him. Thinking it was a pirate to finish him off, he squeezes his eyes closed. To his surprise the person put something in his mouth and forced him to chew and swallow. Whatever it was, it tasted awful. Grimacing, Andon slips back into unconsciousness. Eventually he wakes up and sees he is indoors. Going to get up, he feels a pain in his gut. Remembering he was shot, he looks down and sees he has been bandaged. '_Did the mysterious person do this?'_Andon wonders. An explosion goes off causing him to flinch, clutching his stomach. That signals the fighting is still going on, but what surprised him was a small blue beam shot out of his fingers. "I-Is that the power of a devil fruit?" Andon asks. "Did that person make me eat a devil fruit?"

Andon had heard of devil fruits, from conversations between marines, but he had never seen one or met someone who had eaten one. To confirm he wasn't seeing things, Andon raised his arms and pointed his fingers at a wall. Thinking real hard about what he saw. Eventually the lasers shot out of his fingers and his toes, destroying his shoes. Practising a few more times until he got control of it. He decided to use this power to defeat the pirates. Slowly walking outside, Andon sees the destruction that was his home.

Wandering, Andon notices something. There are lots of civilian bodies, but hardly any marines. '_why is there hardly any marine bodies? Did they run?'_Eventually Andon finds a small group of pirates. Pointing his fingers at the group, Andon fires the lasers from his fingers. The barrage of lasers from his fingers take down the pirates instantly. Afterwards Andon starts to feel tired. "Using this can take a lot out of a person." Andon says, breathing heavy and holding his middle.

Walking around some more, taking down pirates whenever he sees them, Andon runs into, what looks like all the pirates. A huge group of them sit around whatever treasure they took, and drinking alcohol. Furious of what the pirates have done, the killing, the looting and everything else, Andon decides to take the initiative, and fires as much as he can on the huge group. The pirates are taken by surprise and a lot go down, but eventually Andon takes cover from exhaustion. Realising his mistake, Andon took off running. '_Crap, I bite off more than I can chew.'_Andon thought as he ran. For the rest of the day, it was cat and mouse. Pirates chasing Andon around town, Andon shooting any pirate he can, before running again. Soon it became dark and Andon couldn't run anymore. Turning down a few alleyways, Andon walked into one of the few houses intact. Not wanting to be caught, he headed up to the attic. To his surprise he found the marine captain, wounded. "Captain?" Andon says surprised.

The captain looks up and sees Andon, and gives a weak smile. "Looks like I'm not alone after all," He says weakly. "Why are you still here?"

"Got shot," Andon looks down to his stomach. "Was surprised a bit to wake up. Not only that, but I have a devil fruit."

The captain raises an eyebrow, and Andon gives a little demonstration. Afterwards he sits down against the opposite wall. "Captain, I have a question."

"Shoot kid."

"What happened, how did we lose?" Andon asked.

The captain sighed. "I'm such a terrible captain...they all ran." he looks like he is about to cry. "I thought I trained them better than that, but when it came down to it. They ran."

Tired, Andon closes his eyes thinking about what the captain said, losing all respect for marines and drifts off to sleep. Waking up to the smell of smoke, Andon got up in alarm. Looking around he notices the fire. He gets up, but does his best to not fall, still being tired from yesterday. Andon crawls to the captain and tries to wake him up. "Captain, captain," Andon shakes him, "Come on, we have to get out of here." That's when he noticed the captain isn't breathing and how beat up he is.

Having to escape the fire, Andon decides to leave him. Opening the door, to go downstairs, Andon is met with a wall of fire. Unable to get through, he looks around. Noticing a window, Andon does his best to walk to it. Upon reaching it, he tries to break it. Too weak to punch it, Andon tries to use his shoulder, but no avail. Looking back he sees the fire is getting closer. Andon points his finger at the window and fires a few lasers, breaking the glass. Crawling out the window, Andon drops to the ground. Landing with a loud thud, he groans in pain. Looking around he sees that other buildings are on fire, and he is surrounded by pirates. Too weak to do anything, he lets one of the pirates grab him, and drag him away. After a few minutes of being dragged, the pirate stops and throws Andon in front of him. "Found a survivor captain." The pirate says.

The captain standing there, with long white hair, dark skin, muscular, a white eye, with a barrage of weapons strapped to him, turns and takes a good look at Andon and says, "You look a lot like him."

"Like who?"Andon asks. Eyes going wide he asks, "Do you mean my dad?"

"If you mean the marine with blue hair," the captain says. "Then yes."

Anger starts to fill Andon, what feels like adrenaline is actually his devil fruit power, but unknown to him, his veins are glowing blue. Some of the pirates back away. "Where is he?" Andon demands more than asks.

The captain doesn't back off, "So you are the one who ate my devil fruit."

"Where is he!" Andon shouts, standing up to his full height, trying to intimidate him. Now all the pirate have backed away. All seeing the blue wings coming out of Andons back.

The captain notices this too, he raises his pistol and points it at Andon. "He's dead. Just like you will be."

Screaming in rage, Andon punches the captain, sending him flying back. The rest of the pirates raise their guns and proceed to shoot at Andon. Using his new found 'wings', Andon flies into the air and goes as far away as possible. Reaching the marine base, Andon's body and mind is exhausted. Finally shutting down, his unconscious body plunges to the ground.

Waking up days later, Andon looks at what remains of his home. Everything is burnt down. Almost nothing remain standing, except for the marine base and a few houses. Though, even those are charred.  
>Andon stares at the devastation and thinks that it all could have been prevented if the marines weren't such cowards and went after the pirates before they showed up. Many more people would have lived, maybe none would have died. Making a promise, Andon vows to kill the pirate captain who did this and punish the marines that ran. Andon went down to the harbour and went to begin his journey of revenge.<p>

* * *

><p>Sucks there was no chapter this week for One Piece. To be honest I don't like this chapter very much. In fact I don't like writing back stories. Oh well. As you can tell it is done and we continue with the story next week. Please review.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N** Now we are back to the story. Yay! Remember cook, shipwright, and bad guys. Now go read.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

It's been a couple days since Ace and Luffy left the last island, with their first crew member, Andon. To celebrate they all had a few mugs of alcohol, and ate lots of food. Now, the crew is drifting. Barely knowing how to navigate. Luffy hangs his arms over the edge, staring at the ocean. Bored he looks around and sees Ace sitting against the cabin wall, with a newspaper resting in his hands, sleeping. Sighing, he looks around some more. Looking up, Luffy sees that there are no clouds or any birds. "Man, even the sky is boring." Looking around some more, Luffy sees Andon in the crows nest, writing in something. "Oi, Andon." Luffy calls, getting his attention.

Andon looks down. "Yes, Luffy?"

"What'cha doing?"

"Writing in my journal," Andon goes back to writing. "And before you ask 'why', it's so I can record my experiences."

"Oh," Luffy says deflating, walking over to Ace, poking him and saying. "Oi, Ace, wake up." No response, Luffy pokes him again. "Oi, wake up, you're 'it'." Turns to run, but not getting a response from Ace, causes Luffy to sigh again. Looking back up at the crows nest, "Wanna play tag, Andon?"

"That would be nearly impossible on a ship this small," Andon replies, not looking away from his journal. "Sorry, Luffy."

This causes Luffy to sigh for the hundredth time. Going back to the railing, Luffy throws his arms over again and stares at the water, eventually falling asleep himself. Waking up to something hitting his hand, Luffy opens his eyes and sees a bottle floating by him. Being the first thing he has seen all day, he quickly grabs it. Holding it up to his eye, Looking inside, Luffy notices a piece of paper. Wondering what it could be, Luffy gets distracted when Andon yells, "Land, Ho." Luffy jumps to his feet, stuffs the bottle in his pocket, and runs to the bow of the ship. Seeing how close the island is, gets Luffy excited enough to yell, "Adventure!"

Hearing Luffy, Ace wakes up, but he jump when he sees nothing but darkness. Clawing at the thing covering his face, Ace gets it off and realizes it's the newspaper he was reading. Getting up he asks, "What was that about adventure?"

"Land." Andon climbs down from the mini crows nest.

Ace also walk up to the bow of the ship and looks. What immediately gets his attention was the big ship at the harbour, flying a skull and crossbones. "Think we might get some trouble from them?" pointing out at the ship.

"I hope so/I hope not." Luffy and Andon say at the same time.

Ace and Andon glance over at Luffy, "What?" innocently looking at them, causing the other two, to shake their head.

"Well, it's gonna be awhile till we get there," Ace walks away. "Might as well finish reading."

Andon walks back to the mast and climbs up. "B-but, but," Luffy stammers, "What am I supposed to do?" Standing there waiting for a response, but sighs in defeat as the others ignore him.

The next few hours, causes Luffy to be drained of all excitement. Even when they landed at the harbour, Luffy walked around with a hunch, lagging behind. Ace was shocked at how Luffy is acting. "Are you alright, Luffy?" Concerned for his little brother.

"Yeah." Luffy responds, devoid of all energy.

Ace stands there, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. "Adventure?"

Luffy perks up, "Oh yeah!" reaching into his pocket, he pulls out the glass bottle he picked up earlier. Showing it to the others, "Look, what is this?"

"A glass bottle, with paper inside it." Andon shrugs.

"Yeah, I don't get it Luffy." Ace says, wondering what his brother is getting at.

"This," Luffy points at the bottle, "is adventure." and smiles.

"So, you think it's a treasure map?" Ace raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know," Luffy peers into the bottle. "Right now, it's a mystery paper."

"Why not just open it?" Suggests Andon.

"Oh yeah," Luffy yanks out the cork, turn the bottle upside down and shakes, until the paper fell out. Picking it up, Luffy takes a look at it, and scrunches up his face. "Well, it's not a treasure map."

"What is it then?"

"I don't know, can't understand it. You look." Luffy passes it to Ace.

Ace looks at the paper and shakes his head. "No wonder you don't understand it," Turning it around for Andon to see. "It's in another language."

A young man walking past glances at the paper and stops dead in his tracks. "Wow, you guys seem to have stumbled upon something good." Leaning in to get a better look at it.

"Uh, thanks," Ace looks a bit leery of the guy. "and you are?"

"Oh, sorry," He straightens up. "I'm Cicero Hanabira." Interestingly he has a multitude of different spears on his back.

"I'm Luffy," Pointing to himself.

"I'm Ace," Pointing to Andon he says. "and this is Andon."

"Hi." Andon waves.

"Nice to meet you all." Cicero runs his hand through his rosewood colored hair "So, do you guys even know what you have there?"

"No, we don't." Ace looks over at Luffy. "I don't even know when you found this Luffy."

"Back on the boat," Pointing over his shoulder, at the harbour. "before we got here."

"Well, anyways," Cicero says, getting everybody's attention. "What you have there is part of a journal, that describes a man's adventure."

"Cool," Luffy grabs the paper and looking at it turning it around. "I wonder what he did."

Shaking his head at Luffy. "He didn't do a whole lot," Cicero starts to explain. "He travelled the world and fought a few battles, but what got everybody's attention, was that he claimed to have found a city of gold, somewhere in the Grand Line."

"Really?" Ace looks a bit sceptical about the story.

Cicero shrugs his shoulders. "Really. He wrote everything down in his journal, and all the pages are scattered. Why, no one knows."

"So, what can we do with this?" Luffy holds out the page. "None of us can read this. Can you?" waving the page at Cicero.

Cicero takes the page and looks at it. "I can translate a few words, from my travels, but, I do however, know someone who can read it."

"Who?"

"Follow me." Cicero leads them down the road, towards the centre of town. Once there he leads them towards the market, turning down an alley. "No one really knows of the guy, mainly because he lives in one of these back alleys," turning down a few more. "I just need to remember which one."

After nearly an hour of travelling they hit a dead end. "You're lost aren't you?" Ace accuses, still sceptical about the journal.

"A bit," Cicero admits. "but I think if we just climb over this wall we will be fine." Cicero climbs on top of the wall and says. "Oh yeah, we are definitely getting close now." Looking back at the others "C'mon, it's getting close to dinner and I am hungry."

Hopping down Cicero takes off, going around a few corners in an attempt to lose the group. After making sure he lost them, he stops to catch his breath and says. "Alright, lost them. And that is another one to add to my collection." Putting on his sunglasses, he goes walking out to the main street, but was surprised to see Luffy standing there in front of him.

"Are we there yet?" Luffy whines.

Meanwhile, Ace and Andon walk around the back alleys lost. "Shit," Ace mutters, looking around. "where did he and Luffy go?"

"I think he tricked us," Andon says belatedly. "he probably just wanted the paper."

"That bastard."

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Cicero belongs to my friend Sycophantism. Go read her stories. Also thanks are needed to her for helping me edit this chapter. Taught me a lot. And of course thanks to all who review. Now review. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N** Got a few things to say here. One, my friend who was making the doctor character lost everything. So now I need a doctor too. Be warned you will be competing with my friend Syco, who made Cicero. Two, thanks to BSG, who sent in two characters. Can't send them a message unfortunately. I will be using Crimson Van Drago and your cook will be competing with another. So thanks to all who have sent in characters. Three, woot over 30 reviews! Four, thanks to those who have added this story to favorites and story alerts, but y u no review? Reviews let me know you guys are reading and I love reviews. :) Sorry this was long. On to the story!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Cicero stands in place, dumbfounded. '_How the hell did this guy catch up?'_Cicero looks around to see if the others are around. "Uhhhh, I think we're getting close." Walking down the street.

"Good," Luffy follows. "I want to know where this mystery city is."

"So do I." Cicero takes another corner. '_Still can't believe this guy hasn't figured it out.'_ Cicero thinks looking back at Luffy. '_Got to find a way to lose him.' _

"So what's this guys name?"

"Name?" Cicero stops, a bit thrown off by the question. "Uhhh, Dave."

"Dave?" Luffy raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Cicero tries to make it believable.

"What a boring name."

Cicero sighs, he can't believe Luffy fell for it. "Yes, his name is Dave. Just keep walking."

After an hour of walking, Luffy gets suspicious "I'm starting to get a feeling that you are lying to me."

Cicero stops, slightly shocked. Taking off his sunglasses, he turns around. "What makes you say that?"

"Because we walked past that meat stand three times now." Luffy points to a meat stand, drooling.

Cicero is shocked that he was paying attention. "Well... I'll admit that I'm, kinda, maybe, lost." Trying to keep up the ruse. Then an idea pops in his head. "Hey, Luffy, are you hungry?"

Luffy's stomach growls. "Yeah, it has been a while since I last ate."

"Awesome, now, take this," Cicero hands him some money. "and go buy some food."

Luffy's eyes sparkle. "Wow, thanks a lot." Luffy takes off towards the meat stand.

"Well, that took care of him." Cicero runs away. Turning a few corners, he takes out the paper and looks at it again. "Yeah, this is definitely it. Now I'm one step closer to finding it," Putting the paper back in his pocket, he walks towards the harbour. "just need to find a way to get off this island."

"I think I can help you with that." A voice comes from behind Cicero.

Turning around, Cicero sees a big burly, blond haired man and a large group of people behind him. "Oh, shit."

Ace and Andon turn around another corner. Ace sighs, another dead end. "We're never gonna get out of these alleyways." Turning around, they look for another way out. It's been almost half an hour since the two lost Luffy and that Cicero guy. Ace and Andon have been wandering around the alleyways, looking for a way out. "So, Andon, tell me about yourself."

"Not much to say, grew up on a marine base in East Blue."

"Explains why you don't like pirates," Ace walks around a corner, expecting to find the exit. "but what about marines?"

"What about them?"

"Well you attacked them back at the last island, gotta have a reason for that."

"I was only after a certain man. The rest were of no concern to me, until they attacked." Andon explains.

"I still don't understand why you don't like them."

Andon stops walking, "Let me tell you this, when pirates attacked my home, most of the marines ran. The pirates killed my parents and many of my friends." Andon walks ahead, but stops. "The man responsible, the pirate captain, his face is etched in my mind, but I don't have a name to go with it."

"I'm sorry," Ace apologizes. "It must have been hard."

"It's alright." Andon turns around and gestures towards Ace. "What about you, what's your story?"

"Me? well, I didn't know my parents. My dad died before I was born, and my mom died giving birth."

Andon scrunches his eyebrows together, confused. "Then Luffy isn't your real brother?" Looking at Ace he sees a small smile came across his face, as he nods.

"No, he's not my blood brother, but he is still my brother." Ace says, thoughtfully. "Did you have any siblings?"

Andon turns and continues walking, Ace not far behind him. "No, I didn't." he says almost thankfully. "How did you and Luffy meet then?"

"I was raised by mountain bandits, but they sucked at their job. My grandpa put me there, because he was too busy working. I guessed the bandits owed him a favour. Ten years later, gramps comes by with Luffy to be taken care of by the same people." Ace explains.

"Some story." Andon turns at another corner. "Hey, look, we're out now."

"Finally," Ace runs out of the alleyway. "I was getting sick of that place."

"Where did Luffy get his hat?" Andon asks. "You would think he would try to get something to top yours."

"Normally he would, but that hat is his treasure." Ace walks down the street.

"It's kinda weird having a straw hat as a treasure."

"Luffy got it from a guy named Shanks. He saved Luffy's life at the cost of his arm. And when Luffy said he is going to be the Pirate King, Shanks gave him the hat, and told Luffy to return it when he became a great pirate." Ace explains, looking around for Luffy.

"So he doesn't like it when people touch his hat?" Andon looks at Ace.

"Exactly."

"DON'T TOUCH MY HAT!" Ace stops suddenly as he hears his brother's voice.

* * *

><p>Cicero takes a step back. "Hey, Moe. It's been awhile."<p>

"Cut the crap Cicero." Moe says, sternly. "You know why we are here. Now come with us."

"I don't think so." Cicero takes out one of his many spears. This one is a cross between a boar spear and kamayari. The weapon looks like a lowercase '_t_', and has a smaller point at the end.

Moe signals a few of his men to go after Cicero. The men pull out their swords and get ready to attack. The crowd of civilians see the commotion and back away. Cicero keeps his distance between the pirates. One of them lunge at him, swinging his sword downwards. Cicero blocks it with the horizontal piece sticking out the sides. Moving forward, until the body of the spear hits the pirates hand, Cicero pushes down, trapping the pirates hand between the road and spear, digging the point into the ground. He uses the spear to lift himself into the air, and slams both feet into the pirates face.

Hearing another one come from behind, Cicero uses the spear as leverage, to push off the man's face and jumps over the attacking pirate. Using the back of his spear, Cicero stabs the man's calf, causing him to fall over. Finishing him off with the main point. The other two pirates take a step back. Moe shakes his head and signals for more men to attack. Six other men pull out their swords and charge.

Cicero puts his weapon away and take out two different spears. One looks like it's meant more for slashing, and the other looks like it has a sai at the end, and is meant for throwing. The small group of pirates charge. Cicero throws the spear with the sai at the end, and follows right behind it. The thrown spear meets it mark, the belly of a pirate. Causing the man to double over, Cicero rolls over him and slashes the other before he can strike. Using the butt of the weapon to jab a pirate coming from his right, in the gut, Cicero slashes his shoulder and brings the blade back up, hitting the man in the face. Seeing another, Cicero blocks his sword, kicks him away and blocks another. Now Cicero has three guys trying to attack him, and all he can do his block. Every now and then he will be able to hit one of them with the butt of his weapon but that's it.

Eventually more pirates join in and make it even more difficult for Cicero, taking a few cuts to the arms. Trying to back away, he bumps into someone. Looking behind him, Cicero sees Luffy, "Oi," he finishes a piece of meat. "What do you think you're doing to him?"

* * *

><p>Had to give Luffy a bad ass moment there. Been giving him too much idiot moments. Thanks for reading and review!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N **No One Piece chapter this week. That sucks. Oh well, hope the Japanese enjoyed the holiday. Whatever it was. Other than the usual I say, there is nothing more to say other than, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Cicero's eyes are wide, surprised that Luffy is here. "L-Luffy," He stammers. "What're you doin' here?"

"I heard the commotion, so I decided to check it out." Luffy looks at the group of pirates. "When I saw them teaming up on you, I decided to help."

"Who the hell is kid?" Moe asks, confused.

"The names Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna kick your ass."

Moe bursts out laughing. "You're gonna kick my ass, a kid?" He continues to laugh.

"Let me handle things from here." Luffy walks past Cicero and charges the pirates.

The first pirate to attack swings his sword down. Luffy does a spin to dodge and slams his elbow in the man's head, knocking him out. Luffy runs to the next guy, ducking his swing and punching him in the gut. Finishing the guy off with a uppercut, Luffy grabs his leg and spins him around, throwing him at two others, knocking them down. He then moves on to the next guy. Doing another spin to dodge, Luffy sees another man coming at him from the corner of his eye. Launching his fist outward, punching another man charging. Shock comes across everyone's faces. "He ate a Devil Fruit?" Cicero whispers to himself.

Luffy smirks, taking the advantage, Luffy swings his arm and clotheslines the guy he saw originally. Bringing his fist back, he slams it into the back of the pirates head he standing next to. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi," He stretches his cheek to show it off again. "I am a rubber man."  
>"Doesn't matter. Take him down." Moe orders his men.<p>

Two guys charge Luffy at his side. Ducking to avoid their swords, he punches them in the gut. Diving forward, Luffy prepares for the others. The rest of the group charge. Luffy easily handles them, but they soon overwhelm him. Dodging swords, punches and kicks, Luffy is forced back. Bumping into someone, he sees a pirate about to swing his sword down. The pirate stops midway and falls over. Cicero stands there with one of his spears. "Thanks for distracting them while I got my spear back," Pointing to the one in his hand. "Now, let's do this." Standing next to Luffy, ready to attack.

The two of them charge at the group of men. Luffy grabs the first man, spins and throws him into the group, knocking them down like bowling pins. Cicero, using his slashing spear, keeps his opponents at a distance. Slashing down any who try to brave him alone. Slowly getting overwhelmed he calls for Luffy. Looking over, Luffy sees that Cicero is in a bit of trouble. Charging the group, Luffy starts to rapidly throw his punches, making it seem he has more than he does. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun." Taking down most of the guys surrounding Cicero, Luffy turns to the others and starts his attack again. Taking down another chunk of the group, Luffy's breathing starts to get heavy.

A heavy gust of wind causes Luffy's hat to blow off, "Ah, hat." and land next to Moe. Staring at the hat, Moe leans down to pick it up. "Don't touch it." Luffy growls.

Moe raises an eyebrow. "Like this?" Picking up the hat, and crushing it in his hands.

Luffy's eyes go wide, "DON'T TOUCH MY HAT!" charging towards Moe, ignoring everybody else.

Moe laughs, "Hahaha, I'll take the kid." getting ready to fight. "The rest of you get Cicero."

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol," Luffy throws his fist straight towards Moe.

Blocking the punch with his own fist, Moe thought, '_Damn, this kid's got some strength.'_running towards Luffy, he smacks his palm in Luffy's face, slamming him into the ground. Using his other hand to punch Luffy in the gut. "Ahahahaha, for a second I was worried," Moe laughs. "you have some strength boy, but you don't know how to use it."

"Gomu Gomu no," Luffy slams his foot into Moe's gut. "Stamp!" Releasing Luffy, Moe takes a step back, holding his stomach. Luffy jumps up and raises his fists. "Come on."

Charging, Luffy throws another punch, extending it to compensate for Moes longer reach. They both hit each other in the face. Neither giving up, trying to overpower the other. Taking the initiative, Luffy throws another punch right into Moe's gut. Strength faltering for a second, Luffy's first punch wins, sending Moe crashing back. "Gomu Gomu no," Launching both hands forward, grabbing Moe's shirt, Luffy launches himself forward. "Rocket."

Cicero jumps back to avoid a sword. Ducks another, and stabs the guy, with his hybrid spear, in the gut. Rolling to the side to avoid another slash, using the momentum to stab another pirate. '_Damn it, there's too many of them.'_Dodging and rolling, Cicero does his best to keep alive. Blocking two swords with his spear, he does his best to get rid of them. Having no luck, he pushes them back through the group of pirates. When the two hit a wall, Cicero kicks one in the gut, stabs the other and uses the other as support to jump up in the air. Mid-air he sticks his spear into the wall and balances on it. "Now I've got some breathing room." Taking a deep breath. Pushing his hair out of his face, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a bandanna, tying it around his head. "Much better."

Some of the pirates start laughing, "You think you have the advantage right now?" one of them says, as he pulls out a gun.

"Crap." Cicero drops from his perch and hangs on his spear, dodging the bullet. Pulling himself back up, he grins. "Haha, what now?" Another pirate pulls out a gun, causing his grin to disappear. "Son of a bitch."

Two lasers hit the guns, causing the pirates to drop them. They all look over and see Ace and Andon. "Looks like we're not late for the party." Ace cracks his knuckles.

"Oh, hey." Cicero waves. "Care to help?"

"I don't know, are you going to give back what you stole?"

"If you get me out of this situation, then yes."

"You got yourself a deal." Ace charges the group, with Andon firing lasers behind him.

* * *

><p>I'm gonna have to go on some sort of writing spree eventually. Normally I had 3 chapters ahead of what I post, but back in March I was sick and you guys caught up some how. Oh well. Maybe this weekend. Hope you guys enjoyed and please review!<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N **For a while I thought this was the longest chapter yet. Turned out I was wrong. That belongs to chapter 5. So yeah, still need a shipwright, got a few cooks but keep sending them in, and bad guys. Now go enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Ace dodges the first guy's sword, delivers a few jabs to the man's gut. Dropping to his knees, the pirate is sent backwards from a roundhouse kick. Charging to the next two, Ace slide tackles one of them and grabs the pant legs of the other, tripping them, before he gets back up and gives a strong punch to another guy, sending him flying into the huge group, knocking a few of them over. Andon casually walks towards the group, shooting down the two Ace tripped, "They're not exactly the strongest bunch are they?"

"Nope, but definitely a good workout." Ace stretches his arms.

All of the pirates attention go to the two boys, angry that they are mocking them. Seeing the opportunity to escape Cicero pulls the spear out of underneath him. Leaping down on the guy below him, balancing on his head. Stabbing the guy below him in the shoulder, he jumps to the next person and repeats the process until he reaches Ace and Andon. "Well," Cicero turns around and looks at the wounded he left behind. "that went better than I thought."

"Kinda surprised you're helping." Ace raises an eyebrow

"Figured I owe you guys one." Readying his hybrid spear.

"Alright, then lets do this." Taking a fighting stance.

The huge group charge at the three. Andon clasps his hands, pointing out both index fingers, "Reza Reza no Snipe." a small thin line shoots out, going right through the group, taking down all who was in its path.

Ace ducks the first guys sword, delivers two quick punches to his head, knees him in the gut followed by a punch to the chest. Seeing two come at him on his sides, Ace turns to one, dodges his sword, punches him in the face and kicks out his leg. Grabbing him, Ace turns around in time for his 'shield' to take the attack from the other man. Dropping his 'shield', he gives quick jabs to the other guy, before moving on. Cicero ducks a sword being swung to his head. Stabbing the guy in the leg, then swiping out his other leg. Going for the finishing blow, he sees another man in the corner of his eye. Cicero stabs him with the end point. Bringing the spear back down on the guy on the ground. Standing back up, he dodges another pirates sword. Swinging his spear down, Cicero has one of the handles go in between the pirates arms. Pulling back, he manages to disarm the pirate, before stabbing him in the chest.

Andon moves his head to the side, dodging a bullet. Pointing his finger at the culprit shooting the guys leg, watching him fall, following up with a shot to his back. Looking at the carnage Ace and Cicero are causing, Andon shoots a few pirates attacking the two from behind. A couple of them leave the group and attack him head on. Pointing his finger at them, he fires off two shots. The first shot hits one in the head, causing him to do a back flip. The other hits the second guy in the eye blood spewing out, screaming. "Boom, head shot." Andon jumps in surprise when a pirate lands next to him. He points at the man, "You scared me." and fires a laser.

"Rocket" Luffy slams into Moe's chest, causing him to fall back.

Moe falls to the ground, grabbing Luffy bringing him down. With Luffy on top of him, Moe rolls over and pins Luffy to the ground. "My name is Moe," He yells and precedes to punch Luffy's face over and over, "I have a bounty of eight million," he continues to punch. "and I will not lose to a kid!" Moe stops and goes for one strong punch to finish him off.

Luffy grabs his fist, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy," Moe brings his other fist down, and that one is caught too, "I may not have a bounty," Luffy squeezes Moe's fists, cracking a few of his knuckles "but I will be the Pirate King, so I can't lose to you!" Throwing Moe's fists to the side, exposing his torso. Luffy rapidly punches Moe in the chest, "Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!" eventually causing him to fall back, and off of Luffy.

Luffy gets up, breathing heavily, and stands over Moe's unconscious body in victory. All of the pirates look back at the fight, and most of them can't believe the sight they are seeing. "First the captain and now Moe." One of them say. They look back at their opponents and see that they are still willing to go. Scared, they all drop their weapons and run off. Some of them pick up Moe and drag him away.

Luffy walks over to his hat and dusts it off. Putting it back on, he looks at the others and grins. "Took you long enough." Ace says.

"Shut up, you had it easy." Luffy complains.

"Whatever," Ace walks up to him and slings an arm around his younger brother. "You did good."

Luffy laughs before saying. "Cicero, glad to see you're okay."

"Same."

"Speaking of Cicero," Ace walks up to him and holds out his hand. "our paper." Cicero takes it out of his bag and holds it out in front of Ace. Grabbing it from him, Ace says. "Thanks."

"Aww, come on Ace," Luffy whines. "It's not like we need it."

"Trust me Luffy." Ace turns and walks away. "Come on Cicero, lets get those cuts of yours looked at."

"So why were those pirates after you?" Luffy asks.

"For quite a while I was stowing away on ships, travelling from place to place, looking for maps." Cicero starts explaining.

"Cool." Amazement glowing in his eyes. "How many did you find?"

"Three," Holding up three fingers. "over the span of a year in a half."

"Wow, dedicated." Ace comments. "What happened after that?"

"Needed to get out of West Blue. So I stowed away on their ship," Pointing back to the pirates they just fought. "but they found me. Took everything from me and threw me in a cage. Tried to escape, but ended up with this." He lifts up his shirt and shows a scar on his stomach.

"Ouch." Luffy says, looking closer at it.

"Yep," Cicero agrees with Luffy. "Thankfully we were in East Blue at the time, and they surprised me by taking me to a doctor. That was when the captain told me that he had questions for me about the maps," Taking a deep breath. "but I caught him off guard and killed him."

The other three's eyes go wide. "Really?" Ace asks, in surprise.

"I do what I can to survive." Almost snapping back.

"You must be a navigator if you can use those maps." Andon changes the subject.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good." Beaming with pride.

Ace looks over at Luffy and sees the grin on his face. Ace, himself, couldn't help but smile too.

The doctor puts on the last bit of bandages on Cicero's arms. "There you go, now keep those on for a few day and you'll be good as new." He opens the door, "I'll be right back." and leaves.

"Well, yes or no?" Ace whispers to Luffy.

"Yes." He answers with a huge grin on his face.

Ace looks at Andon and he nods his head. Standing up Ace walks over to Cicero. "Got enough money to pay for this?"

Cicero pulls out all the money he has, which is not a lot. "Nope," he looks up at Ace. "you gonna give me some?"

Ace pulls his pockets inside out. Showing he has nothing. "Just follow our lead." He walks over to the door and opens it. Looking out he sees the doctor is nowhere in sight. Holding his hand up he counts down. "Five...four...three...two...one." Ace, Luffy and Andon all burst out the door and run.

Cicero sits there wondering what they are doing. Luffy comes back in and grabs Cicero. Dragging him along. Running past the doctor Luffy hollers "Bye!"

Once outside, the doctor comes running out after them, "Hey, you didn't pay!" shaking his fist.

"Sorry!" Ace yells back, laughing.

Once at their ship, they are sitting on the ground catching their breath. Still laughing. "We haven't done that in a while." Luffy says, getting up.

"No we haven't." Ace gets up too, followed by Andon.

Cicero gets up as well. "You could have left me, but you didn't." he says with relief. "But, why?"

"We need a navigator," Ace points the group, "and you need this map." he pulls out the map. "You become our navigator, you get the map. And everybody is happy. Deal?"

Cicero stands there thinking about it, scratching his head. After a while he finally says. "Deal."

"Awesome!" Luffy jumps in joy.

Ace hands him the map and shakes his hand. "Welcome to the crew."

"Thanks."

They all jump into the boat and get it ready for departure. "I think I should tell you guys something about the maps." Cicero says, getting their attention.

"What's that?" Luffy asks, stretching his foot to the dock to set the ship off.

"What the guy found wasn't a city of gold," Cicero says, causing Ace to raise an eyebrow. "in fact it was an underwater city."

"Really?" Luffy asks with stars in his eyes. Cicero nods his head. "Awesome!"

Ace smiles. "Alright," he points out to the ocean. "lets go."

The crew cheers, before Cicero asks. "So, who's in charge?"

* * *

><p>I think we all know what's about to happen next. I enjoyed writing this chapter. Very fun. And Cicero asked the taboo question. Hope you all enjoyed and please review.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N** Sorry about last week guy, I had a bit of a lazy week. Reading a bunch of web comics and playing video games. Anyways here is the chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

Opening his eyes, Andon wakes up to the smell of coffee. Looking around he sees Cicero sitting at the excuse of a table. "Thanks." Andon gets up and walks over to the counter.

"No problem." Cicero sips his cup.

Andon pours himself a cup and sits across Cicero. They sit there for a while, enjoying their drinks. Watching Luffy slowly makes his way off the bed and on the floor. The next person up is Ace. Looking around he sees Luffy's legs on his chest. Throwing them off, Luffy is now sleeping on the floor. Getting up Ace sits at the table. He lets out a big yawn before asking. "So, where are we going?"

"Well," Cicero puts a map on the table. "the closest place is Gyanburu Island."

"Never heard of it." Ace yawns again.

"I have, but not the one here in East Blue."

"Where?" Andon asks.

"West Blue, there's one there too." Cicero sips his coffee.

"How is West Blue?" Ace asks, taking a sip of Andons coffee

"Hmmm." Cicero rest his head on his fist, thinking.

**Six Years Ago**

"Read it, read it, read it." A younger Cicero sighs as he moves along the bookshelf, trying to find something new to read, but to no avail.

Turning around to leave, Cicero stops when he hears the librarian, "Leaving already?"

"Yeah," Turning around to face the old women. "think I've read there is to read here. Especially everything about navigation."

"Hmmm," The librarian gets up out of her chair, "I don't think everything just yet." walking through a door. Coming out of the room she is holding a red leather book, "Here you go. Might have some things you already read about, but it should have some new stuff in it too." holding it out to Cicero.

Taking it, Cicero looks at the first page. After quickly reading it he closes it again. "Thanks, I'll take it." Turning to walk out the door.

"Your welcome." The librarian calls back.

Walking outside, Cicero shields his eyes from the sun with the book, giving them time to adjust. Running down the dirt path that leads out of town, Cicero watches the children running around playing. Seeing this reminds him of the adventures he and his friends use to have. Well, him anyways. Cicero took a bit longer than most kids to learn how to read. Only caring about having fun at the time, but once he did he hanged out with his friends less and less. Spending most of his time in the library, but that still didn't stop him from thinking that all the characters he read about was him and his friends going on those adventures. A few minutes later an Cicero was finally home. It's not big, but it works for three people. Opening the door he calls out. "Home!"

"Hello!" A voice calls from the living room.

Walking in the living room, Cicero sees a woman, with the same rosewood hair as his, sitting at the table with her face in a book. "Hey, mom." Cicero sits across from her.

His mom looks up from her book, "So, how did\ the hunt go?"

"Okay, only got one." Raising the red book.

Bookmarking her page, "Can I see that?" and holds her hand out. Cicero leans forward and passes it to his mom. Looking at the book and title, his mom puts her hand to her chin. "Hmmm, think I read this one." Opening the book, she reads the first page before closing it and passing it back to Cicero. "Yeah, I definitely read this. Good read, you won't be disappointed."

"Cool." Cicero nods his head. "So what am i supposed to do when I read all of the books in the library?"

"I hear that the World Government convinced the mayor, to allow their ships to give us goods they don't need."

Cicero furrows his brows. "I thought we were gonna be independent?"

His mom sighs. "We are, still, but this is just a step the World Government has taken to make us a part of them.

"So where's dad?" Changing the subject.

"Off on a quick hunt, with Marcus and uncle Tullius. They should be back soon." His mom picks her book back up and opens it. "I recommend that you go meet them." She uses the book to hide her smirk.

Cicero raises his eyebrow. "Uh, okay." Getting up, he leaves his book and walks back outside, heading for the nearby forest.

Looking around he sees the training field. Some of the older kids practising. Throwing and stabbing their spears at trees and some moving targets the local genius made. Excitement fills Cicero, because he is suppose to go on a hunt soon. Like most people in his village, Cicero loves hunting. The thrill of stalking your prey before you strike, waiting for what seems like forever, but is only seconds, if the spear will pierce the heart or not. The adrenaline of chasing after the boar if you miss. Pure excitement.

Reaching the entrance to the forest, Cicero sits down next to a nearby tree. After a few minutes of waiting he sighs. "Should have brought my book."

"Hey, Cicero!"

Looking over at the training grounds Cicero sees a kid around his age come running up to him. "Naoki, what's up?" Cicero greets

Naoki crouches down, "Hey, listen, some of the guys and I are gonna hang out, you wanna join?" he asks.

"Sorry man," Cicero apologizes. "I'm waiting for my dad."

"After?" Naoki sounds hopeful.

"Again, sorry. Just got a new book, that even my mom said is good."

"Come on man," Naoki almost pleads. "how long has it been since we all hanged out. Just forget about the stupid book for once."

"Hey, books aren't stupid." Cicero nearly yells. "Besides, I said 'sorry', I'm not going today. Maybe tomorrow."

Naoki sighs, stands up and walks away. "Yeah, sure."

Cicero sighs, he knows Naoki doesn't believe him. Tomorrow he will definitely try to make it. After a couple more minutes Cicero's dad, Marcus and his uncle, Tullius, emerge from the forest. Each carrying a boar over the back, with the exception of his dad who is carrying two. Cicero's dad also has the half buzzed comb over, but with black hair. "Hey, kiddo. How's it going?"

Cicero got up and gave his dad a quick hug. "Not bad."

"Here take this." His dad passes him one of the boars. "See you later guys, good hunt." He waves to the other two men as they walk in the other direction.

"Bye, Marcus, Uncle Tullius." Cicero waves.

"See ya tomorrow Cincaide, and you too Cicero." They wave back.

"So, what brings you here?" Cincaide asks.

"Mom recommended it."

"Did she now." He smirks.

"Yeah, why's that?" Cicero looks up at his dad.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a feather. "This is why."

"Yes." Cicero pumps his arms in excitement. "Thanks dad." He gives him a big hug.  
>"You're welcome." Cincaide returns the hug. "When we get home you can get your mom to make the earring."<p>

With that Cicero takes off to his house.

**Next Day**

Cicero walks through the forest with his Dad, Marcus and his Uncle. In the last few hours everyone but Cicero has caught a boar. Hearing a bird whistle, Cicero turns around to see Marcus pointing to the right. Looking over a bush, Cicero sees the boar. Going around the bush, and making as little noise as possible. Once in range, Cicero throws the spear, hitting the boar, but it was not a kill shot. The boar runs off, with the spear still in it. "Damn it." Cicero curses, pulling out a knife, he grabs his bag, filled with water, food and rope, he chases after the boar. "You guys go on without me, I'll be right back." He yells back to the others.

If there is one thing his father taught him, it's to never leave a spear behind and always finish the job. The boars are the villages food supply. Sure there is fish, but you need more than just that. Also the spear is a hunters most prized possession. You need to take extra care of it.

Several days of following a blood trail, Cicero crawls from under a bush and sees the dead boar, but it is not alone. A bear is next to the corpse. It lets out a roar to try to scare off Cicero. This might have worked, but Cicero was determined to get this boar, after finally finding it after a few days. Trying to make himself seem big, Cicero yells to try and scare the bear away. Not fazed the bear charges. "Oh, crap." Cicero manages to say before the bear starts to smack him around.

Having no way to defend himself, Cicero attempts to run for his spear, still lodged in the boar. The bear tackles him from behind, sending Cicero flying. The landing knocks the breath out of him. Rolling in pain, he sees the boar right next to him. Quickly yanking the spear from the boar, Cicero holds it out in front of himself. The bear charging right into it, killing itself. The momentum of the bear pushes the butt of the spear into Cicero's chest nearly breaking a rib. Pulling the spear out of the bear, Cicero crawls away to catch his breath. "Looks like I got more than I bargained for." Looking over at the corpse he sees two bear cubs next to the big bear. "Hmmm."

Emerging from the forest, Cicero gives one last tug on his rope to pull his reward through. "Home, finally." he says between breaths.

"Cicero?"

Looking over at the voice, he sees his uncle. "Hey, how's this?" pointing back to the boar he chased after, the bear and two cubs.

"That's a good catch, I'll admit," Tullius says, he looks over Cicero. "but what the hell happened to you?"

Cicero looks over his bruised and bloodied body. "Got in a tussle with the big guy." Pointing at the bear. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna have a nap." Cicero falls to ground, snoring.

* * *

><p>Hope you guys enjoyed. The second part of Cicero's history will be next week and then off to Gyanburu Island. Lets see who can figure out what the name means. Please review and I'll see you all next week.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N** I's official, I hate writing back stories. Mainly because I can't just go with the flow. I have to do this or that. Whatever, I'll keep writing them when I have to. Thanks to for sending in a OC, but unfortunately I have already selected a character with the same Devil Fruit. I might have said this before but, if anyone is going to send in a OC, through review, please make sure you have an account. I want to talk to you about your character(just so I don't screw up lol). At the bottom I'll put a list of devil fruit powers that are taken. Thanks and enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

Andon raises his eyebrows. "You fought a bear, at the age of thirteen?"

Cicero nods his head, "Yep, got the scar to prove it." He rolls up his sleeve to show a scar in the shape of claws going along his right shoulder.

Leaning back in his chair Andon says, "All I fought as a kid was pirates, and that wasn't too long ago."

"I once fought a tiger when I was ten." Ace speaks up. Andon, even Cicero, look at him in disbelief. Luffy's snores keeping the small cabin from being totally quiet. "I had help." he adds in before taking another sip of Andons coffee.

Grabbing his cup away from Ace, Andon asks. "Anymore scars?"

"One more." Lifting his left leg onto the table, Cicero rolls up his boxers a bit to show an even bigger scar, and much more grittier. "This one's a few years back."

**Three Years Ago**

Cicero stands in front of his father, uncle, a few other hunters and the village leader. Recently, he turned sixteen, and like every person in his village he has to go through a Coming of Age Ceremony; It's seen as the crux of adolescence, balanced directly between the new beginning of thirteen and the blooming adulthood of nineteen. Everyone must have gone through a test, most likely related to what their families profession is. Considering Cicero's family are hunters, renowned ones at that, it will most likely be revolve around hunting.

Cincaide shakes his head no, which makes Cicero wonder what his dad is disagreeing with. He hears something about being 'too young' and 'that it's an adult matter'. He squints his eyes wondering what they're talking about. Eventually Cincaide throws his hands up in the air out of frustration. He points his finger at the village leader and says something. He nods and the group walk back to Cicero. "We have come to a decision," The village leader says. "Though your father seems to disagree."

Cincaide glares at the other men. They all ignore him, but Tullius. Who gives an apologetic look. "What am I to do?" Cicero asks.

"You know of the abnormally large boar, that has been named Terastios Gourouni?" One of the hunters asks.

"Yes,"

"It's your job to kill it," Cicero's eyes go wide. He's seen some of the men who came back trying to kill that thing. All of them had a broken bones, and were just as bloodied up as he was after his fight with the bear. One man never came back. For weeks this boar has been causing trouble, killing other boars. Now it has been tasked to him to kill it. The hunter continues. "And as per the ceremony, you are not to return until you do."

"You know your task, now prepare." The village leader speaks. "Good luck, and dismissed."

Everyone but Cicero and his dad leave. They stand in silence until Cincaide says. "You shouldn't be the one doing this."

"Kinda got a reputation to protect." Cicero jokes.

Cincaide shakes his head. "When do you want to leave?"

"ASAP." Cicero says, getting serious.

"Tomorrow morning it is then." They walk down the dirt path home.

Next Day

"Mom, you can let go of me now." Cicero tries to get out of his mother's hug.

Reluctantly she does. "You make sure you come home safe." Poking his chest at every word.

"I'll try my best." He tries to comfort his mother.

"Here are your weapons." Cincaide hands him one of all the spear variants they have. A boar spear, partisan, fauchard, and a kamayari. "I'd give you the kamayari/boar hybrid, but that's still in testing."

Cicero secures the spears on his back, "Right, any leads?" He looks to his dad.

"Sorry, can't help you. Though I did hear that the fruit up north is good around this time." Cincaide smiles.

Cicero smiles too. "Right, I'll be back...whenever." He turns and walks into the woods. He waves. "See ya."

For the next week, Cicero spent his time tracking down Tearstios Gourouni. Within a few days time, he found it and this beast was big. Bigger than all of the other boars he's seen in his life and covered in scars. Reaching into his bag, Cicero grabs his bandana and wraps it around his head, getting his hair out of his face. Getting his boar spear ready, he sneaks up on the beast. Judging he is the right distance, Cicero throws the spear. Hitting it right in the side, but instead of falling, the boar runs off. Cicero quickly runs after it, pulling out the partisan. After running a few kilometers, Cicero sees his spear laying on the ground. Kneeling next to it, he looks around trying to see where his prey went off to. Hearing a twig snap, he looks behind him and sees the huge boar charge at him. Rolling to the side, Cicero manages to dodge the charging animal, and sneak in a stab with his weapon.

The beast runs off, deeper into the forest. "Clever bastard."

The next five weeks was the same thing. Cicero trying to many attempts at different angles to kill the boar. While the boar would charge at Cicero when he least expects it, or is retrieving his weapon. On the sixth week, Cicero loses the animal, using this as a chance to come up with a new idea.

The next day, with a new idea in mind, Cicero headed out. Finding the animal was shorter than expected. Finding it in a clearing. Cicero looks around for a tree to climb in. Finding one to his liking, he climbs half way up. He gets out the kamayari and partisan. Throwing both spears, Cicero jumps down, pulling out the fauchard. Getting ready to slash it. Both of the thrown spears dig into the beast's back. Causing it to squeal and charge forward. Cicero, anticipating the charge, gets ready. What surprises him is that the boar slows down. "Did I get it?" Cicero asks, lowering his guard.

Right then the boar picks up speed and charges at Cicero. Surprised, Cicero does the first thing that comes to mind. He jumps. The boar's tusks get stuck in the tree, though Cicero is pinned too. The animals tusks also went through the side of his left thigh, just sparing his groin. Causing him to drop his spear and scream in pain. The animal tries to pull away, causing Cicero to scream even more and have a few tears roll down his cheeks, but the beast itself in not successful. It tries and tries again, but to no avail. Each time the thing tries to free itself Cicero feels more and more pain. Knowing he has to free himself, he yanks himself free, tearing muscle and skin, further worsening the scar he is going to get. Quickly grabbing his bandana he ties it around his wound, in hopes it will help. Breathing heavily, Cicero stands up and gets hit boar spear ready. Jabbing the spear into the animal's head, finishing it off.

Using most of his strength, Cicero manages to free the dead boar. Tying it up with rope he drags it back to his village. Knowing he will get a warm welcome home, a well deserved one.

A Few Days Later

Moving as fast as he can on his crutches, Cicero rushes to the library. After his fight with the boar, excitement filled Cicero as he finally has enough motivation to go on an adventure with his friends as he as always dreamed. Ever since he started reading he always pictured it was him and his friends going on the adventures he read about. And now he is going to the library to find the perfect adventure and act on it.

Finally reaching the library he begins his hunt. After a few hours, of looking and reading, he finally found it. An old log book that immediately grabbed his attention and interest the moment he started reading. And best of all, it came with a map. Once he finished reading, Cicero hobbles outside and goes searching for his friends. It wasn't long till he found them. "Hey, guys."

They look at Cicero, some with disgust. "What do you want?" One asks.

"I found this book," Pulling it out of his back pocket. "And I was wondering if you all want to go on an adventure with me." None of them say anything. They all give him weird looks. "It's totally possible, we can do it. Look it's even got a map." Taking out the map and showing it to them.

"Really, Cicero?" Naoki speaks up. "This again?"

"What, what's wrong?" Cicero asks, confused.

"You've practically ignored us for years. Only coming to use after you read a stupid adventure book, wanting to go on some stupid adventure." Naoki explains. "We're done with you. Get your head out of those books, and stop dreaming adventures that will never happen. It's childish." They all walk away. "Grow up."

That stung Cicero. He knew he hasn't seen his friends much, but he hadn't realized the time in between. He had nothing left. When he heard the book drop, he picks it up. Looking at it he realized he has something. He's gonna go on this adventure. Even if it kills him. Within the next week, Cicero memorized the book. Word for word. That's when he decided to tell his parents of this adventure. "You sure about this?" His mom asks.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Cicero responds with confidence in his voice.

"What do you think?" Cicero's mom looks over to his father.

"It's his choice," Cincaide says. "but what do you say, for one last hunt?"

"Alright."

For the next week Cicero spent the time with his dad hunting. They never touched on the subject of Cicero leaving, eating what they caught, even had a little competition of who kills the most boar. They just had a good time. Once home though, that 'good time' was gone. Almost the entire village was burned to the ground. Dropping their prey, the two ran to help. It took a few hours to tend to the wounded and bury the dead. Cicero's aunt and uncle being two, of the dozens they had to bury. Even some of his friends and their families. Once all the fires were put out, Cicero goes to his house. He is thankful that his mom is alive, but everything they had is gone. The book and map is ash, along with everything else. Instead of discouraging Cicero, it was more encouraging. It's the first obstacle in his way and he has to find a way to get past it. He will find away. A few days later a marine ship shows up to help. Grabbing his spears, and a few belongings. Cicero says goodbye to his parents, before sneaking on the marine ship. Beginning his adventure, his unprecedented adventure.

* * *

><p>Hope you guys enjoyed, and please leave a review.<p>

Taken Devil Fruits

**Edit: The list has been moved to my profile.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N** Sorry for the late update again. Gonna be moving sometime next month, and was just getting rid of a bunch of crap now and packing. I've also been busy applying for the Navy. Which means, unfortunately, this will go on hiatus some time during the summer break. Don't worry though, I will not give up on this. I don't care if this takes me five years or ten. I will finish this. Enough of me, go enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

The crews small ship pulls up into the dock of Gyanburu Island. Ace drools as he stares longingly at the much larger ship next to theirs. "We need to get one of those soon." He mutters.

"Whoa," Luffy's eyes go wide in amazement. "Look at all those flashing lights, and it's not even dark yet."

"Come on, lets go explore this place." Ace jumps onto the dock.

Everyone follows after him. They reach the entrance to the city and all they see is drunk people walking around with bottles in their hands, people sitting around playing card games. A brawl starts down the road and all the people either ignore it, as if it's a common occurrence, or they are cheering it on. Cicero and Andon furrow their brows in concern for what is happening and what might happen to them. Ace has a smile on his face, and Luffy has pure excitement on his. A man pops up in front of them, surprising them all. "Welcome," he holds his arms out to the side. "to Gyanburu Island. The place where you can test your luck, and win lots of money." He explains with a constant smile.

"Um, okay." Ace says, a bit skeptical about the man.

"You must be new here," he puts an arm around Ace's and Cicero's shoulders. "Allow me to give you guys the grand tour."

Cicero slips from the guys arm, "Thanks, but no."

"This is a big place, you don't-"

"Can it Mac!" Someone calls from behind. Everyone turns and sees a man leaning on the railing of the big ship next to the crews. "Stop trying to con them." he jumps over the railing and holds his hand out to Mac. "Now give them back their wallets."

Cicero checks his bag and finds his. "He didn't take my wallet."

"I don't have one." Ace pulls out the insides of his pockets.

The man sighs and scratches the back of his head, realizing he just made a fool of himself. "Still, give me the wallet you probably stole from someone else."

"No!" Mac turns and runs.

Everyone watches him run. They turn their attention to the mysterious man. They look back at Mac, who is still running away. "You gonna go after him?" Luffy asks.

"Nah, no point."

Everyone raises an eyebrow. "Who the hell are you?" Everyone asks.

"Oh, right," The man gives a slight bow. "The names Alric, and I'll be your guide." Alric smiles.

"Didn't you just stop him from doing the same thing?" Ace points towards where Mac just ran to.

"Yeah, why should we trust you." Cicero asks, folding his arms.

"True, but the difference between Mac and I, is that he would have lead you to some place, and had you beat up, and again taking your money." Alric explains.

Ace lifts an eyebrow. "Won't you?"

Confusion comes across Alrics face. "Why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you, you're a conman right?"

"Ha!" Alric laughs, "Me, a conman." he holds his stomach, laughing. "Oh, you are a good one." He lightly punches Ace's arm.

"I like him," Luffy speaks up.

The crew faces him. "No!"

"Anyways, like I said, my name is Alric and I will be your tour guide." He holds out his hand.

Ace takes it and shakes. "Ace," he points to Luffy. "and this is my little brother Luffy."

Alric shakes Luffy's hand too. "Nice to meet you."

"Hello."

Alric looks over at Andon and Cicero. He raises his eyebrows waiting for them to introduce themselves. "Andon."

"Nice to meet you Andon." They shake hands too. Alric points to Andons hair. "Weird hair, really...sticks out."

Alric walks in front of Cicero and holds out his hand. Smiling he waits patiently. "Something tells me you're not gonna go away, right?" Alric nods his head. Cicero sighs, "Cicero." and shakes his hand.

"Weird name." Alric walks away.

Cicero throws his arms up in the air. "Wow, I don't even get a 'nice to meet you'."

Alric ignores Cicero, "Alright, lets go." and waves the crew to follow him.

Luffy immediately follows, while the others sigh and began to reluctantly follow. Ace whispers to Luffy, "You'd think that weird name and hair would go to Cicero." Causing the latter to snicker.

"Okay, the first thing you want to know about Gyanburu Island is that every building you see, you can gamble at." Alric says, turning around, walking backwards. "Though you can win, or bet, more than just money."

"Like what?" Andon asks, looking at the different games going on outside.

"Drugs, alcohol, favours, anything that has value to the other players." Alric stops, leans forward and whispers. "There are rumours going on that you can now bet people." The crews eyes go wide.

"That's scary." Concern in Cicero's voice.

"Like I said," Alric leans back. "just rumours." He continues walking, pointing out some casinos. Which ones are good, and which ones to stay away from. "They're not really bad, you just don't want to take a loan from them."

"Why?" Luffy asks.

"Because they are the 'don't forget to pay back on time or we will kill you', types."

"Something tells me you loaned from one of them." Ace says.

"Once," Alric grabs his arm. "Ended with my arm breaking." He shrugs his shoulders. "Who knew that not paying five bucks of the original loan mattered."

"What's that building up there?" Andon points to the large, mansion like, building at the top of a hill. Overlooking the entire town.

"That," Alric looks over at it. "Is the first casino to be built here. It's also the most popular." He looks at the crew with a serious face. "I'd highly recommend you stay away from it."

"Now why would that be?" A voice from behind speaks up, causing Alric to freeze.

Slowly turning around, Alric sees a man with his arms draped around two women. Knowing who it is, he stammers. "H-hey, Y-Yamamoto."

Yamamoto slips his arms from the girls, and steps closer to Alric, revealing the sword on his waist. "What's wrong with the bosses casino," He squints his eyes, glaring. "Huh, Alric?"

"N-nothing is wrong with it," Alric starts to sweat bullets. "It's just it can get crowded and," He points to the crew. "These guys don't really like crowds," Looking at the crew, they can see the fear and desperation in his eyes. "Right guys?"

"He's right." Ace answers. "Not really our thing."

Yamamoto looks back and forth from the crew and Alric, who is still sweating. "Hmmm," he jabs his finger into Alric's chest, causing him to flinch. "You're lucky I'm busy tonight." Walking away, he slings his arms back on the girls. "Come one girls, lets go have fun."

Once Yamamoto is out of view, Alric gives a heavy sigh of relief, and wipes away the sweat. "Think I'm gonna need a shower I sweated so much." He says, trying to act like nothing happened.

"Was that the guy who broke your arm?" Ace asks.

Alric grabs his arm again, and gulps. "Not him, but his partner." He lifts up his shirt and reveals a large scar on his back. "He did this though. Which is why I recommended you do not go there."

"That's it." Luffy cracks his knuckles. "I'm gonna kick his ass."

"No!" Alric almost shouts, holding his hand out to stop Luffy. "You'd just make it worse. Please Don't." Fear and desperation returning to his eyes.

Luffy sighs. "Okay."

Alric sighs again. "Alright, what do you say we go have some fun?" He waves them to follow. "Come on."

Following, Ace asks. "That ship, is it your home?"

"Yep," Alric replies, his cheerfulness returning. "Has been for the past couple years."

"Why don't you try leaving?" Andon asks the question everyone is thinking.

"Tried that, but they have people watching me. They gave me a warning, but next time they said they will sink my ship and bring me back to shore."

"Can't you stay at someones house, or something?"  
>"No one wants to house a person in debt," Alric puts his hands in his pockets. "'bad things happen, we just can't afford that', is what everyone says. That's why a majority of the homeless people are in debt." He points around. "They can't even get jobs because, 'bad things happen', it's a vicious cycle." He shrugs his shoulders. "As long as you pay your debt or not take a loan, you'll be fine and have fun." He turns to the crew and smiles.<p>

"Where did you get the ship?" Ace asks, looking back at the harbour, just barely seeing it.

"Use to be an adventurer, had a crew and everything."

"What happened." Luffy tilts his head.

"We came here and I got addicted to gambling," Alrics mood changes agian, this time being sorrow. "My crew left me. The only thing they didn't take was some food and the ship, that belongs to me. To be honest, I hate gambling now, but I have to in order to get out of this place." He looks at the ground, eventually looking back up again. "Enough about the past, lets go have fun."

The next few hours was spent at many of the casinos on the island. They all try their luck at the many games. They won some, an lost some. When it came to the slots the crews jaws drop to the ground at how lucky Luffy was. With some money in their pockets they head to a bar and have a few drinks. After a few rounds went by, and some stories are told, Alric asks. "Hey, do you guys think I can borrow some money off of ya?"

"Maybe, why?" Cicero questions.

"Be nice to have some to help extend a deadline of some money I owe." He smiles innocently.

"Yeah, I guess it's alright." Ace hands him some money. "we got some to spare."

"Thanks, just remember to not gamble for the rest of the night," Alric reminds them. "You now know how addictive it can be."

"Thanks we'll be careful." Ace waves him off.

Luffy pops up next to Ace. "Lets go get more money, for food."

"No, Luffy." Ace starts to push him outside. "Besides I think now is a good time to go to bed."

* * *

><p>Hoped you guys enjoyed this one. Hoping I will make the deadline next week. We'll see :P Please review.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Wow I'm only 2 days late on this one lol. Though I shouldn't be late at all. Yay, 50 reviews. Thanks to everybody who reviewed, they mean a lot. Nothing much else to say other than a cook has been selected and I still need a shipwright and doctor. Also bad guys. Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

Ace dumps Luffy's sleeping body on the bed, in their little ship. He quickly follows, landing on top of his brother. Cicero and Andon sit at the table, not quite yet ready for bed. "Do you think it was wise for Ace to give him the money?" Cicero asks.

Andon shrugs his shoulders. "Not my call." He stops writing in his journal.

"I just think he's after our money."

"Do you not trust him?" Closing his journal, getting up to put it away.

"No," Cicero turns his body to follow him. "And for the exact reason I just mentioned." furrowing his brow. "Do you?"

"Hard to say," putting his journal in a drawer, leans against it. "He seems to be an alright guy. Though, like you said, he could be just after our money." He glances over at the sleeping brothers. "They seem to trust him. Well, at least Luffy does."

Cicero looks over at them too. "If you think about it, those two are the worst pirates ever."

Andon chuckles. "I think they are more so in it for the adventure."

Cicero yawns. "Wouldn't that make them adventurers?"

"Kinda hard to become the Pirate King when you are an adventurer." Andon pushes himself off and opens the door. "I'll be look out tonight. Goodnight."

"Night." Cicero replies before he closes the door and he himself, rests his head on his arms, falling asleep.

Alric counts the money he has now. "Shit, not enough." Heading for the closest casino, he figures he can try his luck. Entering he goes for the closest table, blackjack. Trying a few hands, he realizes he's not having any luck at all. Moving on, he tries his hand at poker. Winning a few rounds, but losing most of them. Alric takes the money he won. Walking around, he reaches the slots section. Stopping he stares at the machine, wondering if he should take the chance. Slots have never been his best of friend, but when he does win. He wins big. This could be his chance to postpone his deadline.

Sitting down, he takes his chances. Putting a coin in the slot he whispers to himself. "Here we go." Pulling the lever causes the wheels to spin. what took seconds, felt like forever to Alric. When they stopped spinning, they show he has lost. He sighs. "Damn it, why can't I have Luffy's luck?" For the next half hour, Alric continues to test his luck. With no wins, he decides to try one last time. Putting the coin in, he notices someone sit next to him. Looking over he sees who it is, and his eyes go wide. He unknowingly pulls the lever. "Oh, shit." Yamamoto looks over at Alric, anger written all over his face. "H-hey, Yamamoto, how's it going?"

"You must think you are so fucking clever don't you?" Yamamoto spits. "Coming to an independent casino. Thinking we won't notice." He looks over at the screen of the slot machine. Alric almost won the jackpot. "Looks like this is not your lucky day." He nods behind him.

Alric looks behind and sees two security guards from the casino. The sounds of coins rattling in a bag gets his attention. Looking back at Yamamoto, Alric sees he has a bag of money. Knowing what it's for he tries his best to convince Yamamoto. "I got some money. It's not a lot, but it should do."

"Too late," Yamamoto tosses the bag to one of the guards. "I'm already pissed off." He grabs Alrics head and slams it against the slot machine, repeatedly. Throwing him to the ground, Yamamoto starts to kick him in the ribs. "You're lucky the boss told me I'm not allowed to use my sword." Picking Alric up by the collar, Yamamoto proceeds to punch him in the gut. After a few of those, he pushes Alric forward. "Walk," Alric walks toward the door, but is knocked to the ground when he is hit from behind with a stool. "I said walk, damn it!"

Alric stands and begins to walk a path he has walked many times before. Outside, he looks up to the casino that looks over all the others. Knowing that no matter how much money he had, what was to come is inevitable. He is late for his payment, and the man he owes it to has made up his mind. Normally a person would be shaking, but not Alric. Too many times has he been up there. As much of a brave face he wants to put on, the fear on his face won't leave. Even though it is night many people are still outside. All of them know where Alric is heading. Yamamoto being behind him, telling them what is about to happen to this man. Everybody move out of the way, not knowing they will be caught up in Alric's troubles or out of fear.

Finally reaching the casino, the two walk in. As usual the place is filled with people. A long red carpet that goes from the front door to another door, leading up to the room where the man that Alric fears more than Yamamoto. Before he reaches the door, Alric looks up at the window looking over the place. He knows someone is watching him. Going up the stairs, the trembling starts. Opening the door, he hears. "You look pitiful, as always."

"H-hey Hiroshi," The man isn't large, but well built. For a businessman he is very intimidating. He looks over at the man pounding on a punching bag. "Haruko."

Haruko stops for a second to glare at Alric. The large scar across the side of his face always catches Alrics attention. He ignores Alric and resumes punching. "Where's my money Alric?" Hiroshi asks, annoyance in his voice.

"I-I got s-some r-right here." Alric fumbles with the bag, slowly handing it to the intimidating man.

Hiroshi snatches the bag and tosses it on his desk. "Why bother? You already know why you're here." Alric swallowed the lump in his throat. Getting ready for what is to come.

Hiroshi slams his fist into Alric's stomach, causing him to double over. He follows through with an uppercut, breaking Alric's nose.

A door slams causing Andon to jump in his sleep, waking himself up. He fell asleep on the job last night. He looks around trying to make it look like he is still doing his job. "You fell asleep last night." Andon looks over and sees Cicero, who currently has a spear lodged in it. Balancing on the tip of his spear. He was caught.

He shrugs. "Oh well, not like there is anything to rob from us." Getting up he stretches his arms. "What are you doing?"

"I guess you'd call it training. Making sure I have perfect balance."

"Oi!" Ace shouts. "We're gonna go into town, wanna come?"

"Sure." Both Andon and Cicero answer.

They both jump down and they all head to town. Walking down the street, it looks like nobody went home. The streets are still full of people. With the crowd blocking his vision, Cicero doesn't notice the pair of legs sticking out of an alleyway. Tripping over them he falls flat on his face. "Ow, what the hell?"

The crew looks at who the legs belong to. Surprise hits their faces when they see a bloody Alric. "Oh my god, Alric!" Ace runs to his side.

"Huh? Oh hey guys." Alric's voice devoid of all emotion.

"Who did this to you?"

"It's partially my fault," He tries to get up, but ends up having Ace help him. "I was late."

"Late for what?" Luffy asks.

"Payment."

"Come on, lets take him to a doctor." Andon also helps support him.

Alric didn't talk on the way. The crew barely even recognize him. He is missing that cheerfulness he has. It took the crew a while to find a doctor willing to take him in. Once they did, they dropped him off and went outside. "So what now?" Andon crosses his arms.

"We go after the guys who did it." Luffy cracks his knuckles.

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Cicero asks. "He did say that it would just make it worse."

"True," Luffy slumps his shoulders, not wanting to make things worse.

"But that's only if we take out one," Ace says. "What if we take out all of them?" He smirks.

A big smile appears on Luffy's face. "Lets go!"

"I still don't think this is a good idea."

"If you don't want to go, then don't."

Cicero sighs and hangs his head. He starts thinking on whether or not he should go. Looking up he sees his friends walking towards the casino. "Damn it," He whispers to himself. "Wait up!"

* * *

><p><strong>Start playing the OST overtaken. If you don't know what it is, look it up on youtube. This was a setup chapter, and you all know what's to come next. Just a reminder to those who might send in a character. be sure to check chapter 13 for the list of Devil Fruits. I will update sometimes, just so you know what Devil Fruit has been taken. You also get a sneak peek at future ones. Hope you guys enjoyed, and please review.<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: OMG I'm on time for once. Nothing new to announce other than that it seems nobody wants to make a shipwright. Which is why I have decided to make it. I figured that I might as well have my own character on the crew. I have so far made three villains for this, and they work in a group. Now I just need a doctor and bad guys. Also, if you are going to send in characters don't make them a neutral party. Bad guys and doctors. Good or evil. Either one please. And remember detail, detail, detail. So much for nothing new. I think this is longest I've ranted. Thanks to all who reviewed and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong> Chapter 16<strong>

The crew walk into the casino, ready for a fight. Looking around they see how busy the place is. It's jam-packed with people. They need a way to get them out of the way. "So, how exactly are we gonna get rid of these people?" Cicero looks around.

"I have no idea." Ace scratches his head, trying to think of an idea.

Andon points his fingers up at the roof. "Like this." He starts firing lasers at the light, causing some to explode.

Following his lead Ace yells. "This is a robbery, everyone get the hell out!" Kicking a couple slot machines over.

Everybody in the building begin to panic and start running for an exit. The crew move out of the way of the front door to let the people go by. Soon all that was left were the guards. "Are we really gonna rob the place?" Luffy looks at Ace in confusion.

"I don't know, maybe." Ace shrugs. "Could use the extra cash."

"What are you waiting for?" Someone yells from an intercom. "Get rid of them!"

All the guards charge towards the crew. Cicero draws out his partisan spear and charges with Ace and Luffy. Andon holds back shooting any guards with a gun. Ace ducks the first guards punch, delivering his own into the man's gut. Grabbing him, Ace spins, throwing him into the group. Cicero ducks under a guard's sword swing, tripping him, leaving him for Andon to handle. Before the next guy can draw his sword, Cicero jabs his spear into his gut. Pulling it out he hits the guard across the face with the butt of his spear. Both Ace and Cicero were about to attack the next guy when Andon says. "Where's Luffy?"

Look around they notice Luffy is gone. "Where did he go?" Ace asks.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun." Luffy calls out.

"Found him." Cicero rolls his eyes in sarcasm.

From the side a rapid fire of fists hit the guards, effectively taking them all out. Luffy stands in the centre of the guards with a big grin on his face, with both hands in the air. "Haha, that's what they get for standing in a group."

The others shake their heads at him. "Think that's all of them?" Cicero asks.

"Nope," Ace points to the glass window. "There has to someone up there, but-" Cicero throws his spear at the window, cutting Ace off. It doesn't break the window, but pierces it and the spear gets stuck. "As I was going to say, it's probably bulletproof."

Cicero slumps his shoulders. "Well, that's embarrassing."

"You're right about that cowboy," the same voice from the intercom says. "it is bulletproof."

"Cowboy?" Ace scrunches up his face. "That's a new one."

"I'm impressed that you managed to get the spear stuck, instead of it just bouncing off."

"It may be bulletproof," Andon speaks up. "But is it laser proof?" He points his finger at the window and fires a few shots at it. The glass cracks, but doesn't break.  
>"No luck either gunslinger."<p>

Cicero throws his arms in the air. "How come I don't get a nickname?"

"Alright, my turn." Luffy picks up a slot machine and gets ready throw it.

Though to everyone's surprise the glass shatters. They watch as a punching bag falls to the ground. Looking back up, they see Yamamoto standing with two other men they haven't seen before. One of the men is holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand. He places the snail transmitter on the desk behind him. He runs his hand through his slick red hair. Taking a deep breath, he looks over at the other man with a large scar. "Jumped the gun on that one, Haruko."

"Sorry boss," Haruko says, with a deep gruff voice. He shrugs his muscular shoulders, rubbing his bald head. "I got bored."

"No matter." Hiroshi looks at the crew. "Now, how fucking stupid are you? Coming here and trying to rob this casino. Do you have any idea who we are?"

"I don't care who you are, you're the guys who hurt our friend," Yells Luffy, still holding the slot machine over his head. "And we're gonna kick your ass!"

"Friend?" Hiroshi asks, thinking of the people who he has hurt for money. "You don't happen to mean Alric, do you?" When the crew nods, he begins to laugh. "Hahaha, that pitiful fool. So, he finally caved in and asked someone else to fight his battles for him? Pathetic."

"That's it!" Luffy throws the slot machine at Hiroshi.

Hiroshi catches the machine with both hands and throws it back. Luffy jumps away. The machine breaks, spilling coins everywhere. "Seems like I struck a nerve there, Mugiwara." Hiroshi looks at the crew, eyeing each member. "Just from looks, I'd say that either one of you is in charge." he points to Ace and Andon. The latter shakes his head no.

Yep," Ace says, pointing to himself.

"No, I am." Luffy points to himself too.

"Luffy, we've been over this many times." Ace faces his little brother. "I'm in charge."

"And I keep telling you that I'm gonna be the Pirate King." Luffy stands on his toes, trying to get to his older brothers height.

"Not if I do first." Ace grins.

"What?"

The start to bicker, causing Yamamoto and Hiroshi to raise eyebrows. Haruko seem to get more and more angry by the second, with a vein bulging on his forehead. The other two sigh, with Cicero smacking his forehead with his hand. "You know, this would go by a lot faster if you ask who's strongest."

"Alright then," Hiroshi clears his throat, getting the bickering brothers attention. "Who is the strongest?"

Ace grins even bigger. "That, would be me."

Hiroshi looks at Luffy expecting him to object. Instead he mumbles something about Ace being a bit stronger. "Well then, that settles it. Haruko, you deal with Mugiwara over there."

Haruko gives what the crew could only imagine as a growl. "This better be a challenge."

"If it makes you feel better, he is the one who defeated all the guards." Yamamoto jokes, knowing that won't make him feel better.

"Pfft," Haruko jumps down to the main floor. Landing on a poker table, crushing it. "I can do that with an arm tied behind my back."

"Only one?" Cicero tries to annoy him. Which works, because another vein appears on his head.

Yamamoto and Hiroshi jump down, landing with more grace. Yamamoto looks back and forth between Andon and Cicero. Not sure on who to fight. "If you're taking on cowboy, boss. Who do I fight?"

Hiroshi was about to answer when he was interrupted by a few men bursting through the door, holding guns. They point their guns at the crew and yell at them to freeze. Andon quickly turns and drops to his knees, shooting the men. Looking outside, the crew can see a group of people coming up the road, heading straight for them. "Think you can handle them Andon?" Ace asks.

Andon stands up and heads for the door, "No problem." Once at the door, he takes a few tables and makes a semicircle in front of the door. Taking a look once more, he sees that the group of people is huge. Ducking behind the table he takes a deep breath. "God damn it, what did I get myself into?"

Yamamoto walks in front of Cicero, drawing his sword. "Looks like it's between me and you."

Cicero sighs, taking out his hybrid spear. "God damn it."

Yamamoto charges forward. Swinging down, Cicero side steps the attack. With one arm, he uses his spears crossbars to pin Yamamoto's hands to the ground. With his other he takes out his regular boar spear. Kicking Yamamoto in the face, he reels backwards, causing him to let go of his sword. Cicero uses this opening to jam his other spear into his opponents gut. Yamamoto's eyes go wide and he coughs up a bit of blood.

Haruko charges towards Luffy, at a faster pace than a man his size should.  
>Surprising Luffy, the meaty man grabs Luffy's head and smashes it against a slot machine. Some of the glass cutting Luffy's cheek. Holding him by the shirt, Haruko proceeds to punch Luffy in the gut. Once satisfied, he throws Luffy up in the air and roundhouse kicks him across the room. Crashing into a bunch of tables, Luffy lays there, not moving. Haruko walks over to his opponent. Throwing any table out of the way. Once over there, Luffy is on one knee. Haruko knocks the straw hat off of Luffy's head, going to grab him by the hair. Angry, Luffy grabs Haruko's arm, squeezing it. Looking up and into his opponent's eyes, rage fills Luffy's eyes. "Don't touch the hat." He says through clenched teeth. "Gomu Gomu no," Luffy jumps into air, doing a backflip, and slams his foot into Haruko's jaw. "Whip." Landing on his feet, he stretches his arm back, and takes a few steps closer. "Bullet." Luffy's fist comes back and slams into Haruko's face. Knocking him on his back.<p>

Andon ducks when a few bullets whiz past his head. Moving over to the next table, he pops up and fires a few shots. Taking out a few more. _Damn it, how many of them are there?_ It seems that no matter how many he takes out, the groups never seems to get smaller. They are also getting braver. Knowing it's only one man guarding the door, they are getting closer and closer. Popping back up he holds his hands together, pointing both index fingers. "Reza Reza no," a few shots graze his arms. "Shigi." A long thin beam shoots out of his fingers, cutting right through those in it's path. Andon then swings his arms, causing the thin laser to cut down more enemies. He drops back down, now starting to breath heavily. Just making the laser a steady stream exhausted him. Peeking over the table, he sees them falling back. Though they are not running away, just regrouping. _Damn, still wasn't enough to take them all out._

Ace and Hiroshi stare each other down, while the others fight around them. Finally getting fed up Hiroshi asks. "Are we done yet?"

"I was waiting on you."

Hiroshi sighs in annoyance. Deciding to take charge, he rushes towards Ace. Ducking his punch, Ace is surprised when a foot met his head. Jumping from one foot to the other, Hiroshi delivers a side kick to Ace's gut. Quickly grabbing Ace, Hiroshi throws him over his shoulder. Standing up, Ace didn't have time to react when a foot meets his chest. Flying backwards he slams into a wall. Hiroshi moves at a quick speed, slamming his elbow into Ace's head. Burying it in the wall. Hiroshi follows it up with rapid punches to Ace's body. Dust from the wall builds up blocking Hiroshi of his view. Making sure his opponent is defeated he yanks Ace's body from the wall. What he didn't expect was Ace to connect his fist to Hiroshi's face. Ace then kicks him in the gut. Following with both hands together, bashing them in Hiroshi's skull knocking him to the ground. Ace stands over his opponent, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed. I noticed it took about 15 chapters to get 50 reviews. Think you guys can get me to 100 before 30?. :D If so I promise to release two chapters the week after. Please review and have a nice day or night. Whenever you read this.<br>**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry about missing last week. Was kinda sorta busy. Got nothing to say really other than enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

Staring up at the roof in a bed, Alric feels shame. He heard from the doctor of what those kids are going to do. They are off risking their lives, while he sits in this bed doing nothing. That's all he's good for. Nothing. All of his old friends left him when they came to this island, and he became an addict. Now, he's got these kids caught in his problems. Deciding he has to help them, he throws the covers off and sits up. Pain shoots through his body, causing him to fall back down. Taking a few deep breaths, Alric closes his eyes shut. Ignoring the pain as much as possible, he manages to sit up and get his feet on the floor. Panting from the pain, he didn't notice the door opening. "Where do you think you're going?"

Alric looks up at the doctor in surprise, sweat all over his face. "I'm going to help them." He wipes away the sweat. "It's only fair."

The doctor scoffs at him. "Please, in that condition you'd only make things worse." He walks over to Alric and pushes him back on the bed. More pain than last time shoots all throughout his body, causing air to escape from his lungs. "Now just lay down, shut up and get some rest." The doctor walks out the door, closing it behind him.

Alric tries to sit back up, but the pain is too much. Slamming his fist against the bed he whispers to himself. "Damn it, why is it that I can never do anything for myself?" He wipes his eyes before the tears come. "You bastards better make it back."

Using the time the enemy is taking to regroup, Andon catches his breath. He needs to think of something. _I need to take them out in one shot, but they need to get closer. _Peeking over one of the tables, he sees them moving closer, but to his surprise they have bazookas. Two of them. Not giving them the chance to shoot, Andon fires a few shots at them. One of them gets hit, but he manages to fire anyways. The explosive goes up and hits the building, shaking it. While the other is fine and shoots it directly at Andon. Jumping out of the way, the table he was behind is gone. Popping back up from cover Andon shoots a few more lasers. Watching as the enemy pull the bazookas away to reload them. Most of them open fire and move forward, trying to get in the casino. _Alright, they should be close enough._Vaulting over the poker table, firing a few shots to cover himself. Andon stops next to the door. Taking a few deep breaths, he gets ready for his next attack. "This is the Gyanburu security, come out with your hands up!" One of them yell.

Andon raises an eyebrow, wondering why it took them this long to say that. Knowing that they might just shoot him, he decides to take a gamble and play along. "Alright, I'm coming out." The men's eyes go wide, not expecting him to agree. Walking out with his hands up in the air, he takes a few steps from the entrance to get closer. "Mind I do a little prayer?" He asks.

Some of the men look around at each other, confused. "Um, sure." One says.

A small grin comes across Andon's face. "Thanks." Putting his hands together for a prayer, he also slides his legs apart, bracing himself. "Reza Reza no," A light appears in between his hands, and the security force gets ready to shoot. "Burasuto." Extending his hands forward, an explosion shoots out of his hands, taking out the group in front of him.

Unable to see through the dust, Andon heads back to the casino. Once at the entrance he is thrown back from an explosion. Using his arms to protect himself, he feels a few bits a shrapnel hit them. Landing on his back, he rolls on the ground in pain. He looks over at the remaining security force and as they fire the other bazooka. The shot goes over him and hits the entrance. Blocking him. Getting up he starts to rapidly fire. "Reza Reza no Danmaku."  
>Slowly moving forward, he tries to take down as many enemies as possible. After a few seconds he stops and sees that he did take out the others. Taking a deep breath, he falls to the ground. "Ow."<p>

Cicero stares at his unmoving opponent, his spear still lodged in Yamamoto's gut. "Huh, I guess he wasn't all that tough."

Yamamoto's hand grabs the spear, and he looks in Cicero's eyes. "Guess again."

Pulling the spear out of his gut, he pulls on the spear causing Cicero to stumble towards him. Using this opportunity, Yamamoto punches down causing his opponent to bow. Grabbing Cicero's pants and shirt collar, Yamamoto knees him in the gut. Swinging Cicero back, Yamamoto uses the momentum to throw him across the room. "Oh, shit!" Cicero screams as he flies.

Landing on a slot machine, Cicero rolls off of it and hits the floor. Groaning in pain, he clutches the spear in his hand. He sighs. "Now I'm two spears short." He looks over at Yamamoto pulling out his hybrid and tossing it away.

Picking up his sword, he looks over at Cicero laying on the floor. "Get up, I know you still have some fight left in you."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Cicero stands. Putting away his boar spear and drawing the kamayari. Yamamoto charges forward, swinging his sword downwards. Cicero sticks the spear up, blocking the strike. They both push against each other, trying to overpower their opponent. Soon Yamamoto starts to win. He grabs the spear and moves it to the side, exposing Cicero, he goes in for another downward slash. Cicero pulls the spear back, slashing Yamamoto's side, causing him to flinch and hit Cicero's shoulder. They both jump away, clutching their wounds. "Think I'd let you get close that easily?" Cicero smirks.

"You got lucky," He wipes away the blood on his hand. "next time you won't be."

Cicero looks past Yamamoto and sees his spear hybrid. _If I can get it I might be able to pull the same manoeuvre like last time, and take him out._Charging forward he jabs his spear into the ground, vaulting over Yamamoto. Grabbing the fauchard he slashes at his opponent. Blocking Cicero's attack, he grabs the spear lodged in the ground and hits Cicero with it, sending him flying. Landing farther away from his spear, Cicero punches the ground. "Shit, no matter what I do I just end up with one less spear."

Throwing away the spear, Yamamoto walks towards Cicero. Standing up, he charges towards Yamamoto. Swinging his slashing weapon down. Yamamoto blocks the attack. With his attack blocked, Cicero swings the butt of his spear into his opponents side. Following it up with a slash across Yamamoto's gut. Not letting up, Cicero slashes his leg too. Causing him to fall to one knee. Yamamoto jabs forward, catching Cicero's side. Following it up with a punch to the gut, causing Cicero to fall to both knees. Grabbing his opponents head, Yamamoto slams his into Cicero's. Both reel backwards from the impact. Cicero uses this moment to grab his boar spear and slam it into Yamamoto's thigh. Yamamoto screams in pain and grabs his thigh. Cicero jabs forward with the fauchard and slashes his enemies neck. Yamamoto's other hand grabs that too. Raising his spear over his head, Cicero lodges his slashing weapon into Yamamoto's chest as far as he can. Yamamoto stops screaming and falls over limp. Cicero stands up and pulls out his spears. Sitting on a nearby stool he gazes over at Yamamoto. "Sorry about that." He whispers.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun Dun Dunnn. Is he really dead or just unconscious from the pain? Who knows? Sorry about how short it is. Wanted to get one posted on time for once. Ace and Luffy's fight next. I know you're all excited for that. Thanks for reading and please review.<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Well, talk about being late for this one. Sorry about that guys, been busy with getting ready to move and all that. and here is the chapter you've all been waiting for. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

Standing up Andon walks over to the rubble blocking the entrance. Looking over it for a few seconds he gets to work of removing it. Knowing it's gonna have to happen sooner or later. And he rather have it done sooner. After a few minutes of work, Andon quickly turns around at the sound of footsteps. Pointing his finger at whoever, he slowly lowers it when he notices they are civilians. They must have heard the gunshots and explosions, curious of what's going on. Many of them look bewildered and upset that their favourite casino was attacked and damaged. Some have a look of hope. Hoping that they might not have to worry about debt any longer. Ignoring them Andon gets back to moving the rubble. He stops in surprise when he sees a few of those hopefuls help. Nodding his thanks, Andon gets back to work.

"Bullet." Luffy's fist comes slinging back and slams into Haruko's head, knocking him to the ground.

Haruko rolls backwards onto his feet. Standing up he readies his fists. "You're stronger than I thought, this might actually be a good fight."

Luffy picks up his hat and gently puts it back on his head. The shade from it covering his eyes. "A fight where I kick your ass."

Running towards Luffy, he jumps in the air and does a roundhouse kick, aiming for Luffy's head. Putting his arm up, Luffy blocks the kick. Grabbing Haruko's pant leg, he swings him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground. Cracking the floor. "Gomu Gomu no," Luffy sends his foot up to the roof, "Stamp." bringing it down towards Haruko.

Rolling out of the way, he watches as the kids foot hits the ground, causing a little impact crater. Jumping forward he grabs Luffy's leg and he too swings him over his head, slamming him into the ground. Luffy too causes the floor to crack, but not as big cause of his smaller body. Pulling Luffy back to him, Haruko kicks the straw hat boy. Sending him across the building. Standing up, Luffy holds his gut. _Man this guy is strong._Haruko charges across the floor, throwing away anything in his way. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol." Luffy launches his fist towards his opponent as hard as he can. His fist hitting him in the chest, causes him to stop, knocking the man on his ass. Grabbing Luffy's arm, he flings the boy into the air. Grinning, Luffy launches his other arm. Seeing the fist coming at him, Haruko grabs it. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

Luffy rockets himself towards Haruko, causing his hat to fall off of his head. Slamming into his opponent a cloud of dust appears covering them. Slowly Luffy's treasure falls to the ground. Landing upside down on at poker table, it knocks down a tower of coins into it. Luffy is thrown from the cloud of dust, quickly followed by Haruko. Blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Luffy stands just to receive an uppercut. Haruko then unleashes a barrage of punches on Luffy. The attack has no real damaging effect on Luffy's body, thanks to his Devil Fruit, but the pain and the barrage itself stops him from making an attack of his own. Not to exhaust himself, he punches Luffy as hard as he can. Knocking Luffy back, he skids a few feet away. Slowly standing back up, Luffy raises his fist getting ready. "Why won't you just stay down?" Haruko asks, breathing heavily.

"You hurt my friend," Luffy charges forward. "So I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Staying a couple feet away from Haruko, Luffy stretches arms and starts a barrage of attacks of his own. Haruko puts his arms up to block, but they do nothing to protect him. Luffy breaks through the defence, and slowly starts to pick up the pace of his punches. Once he reaches a rapid pace he calls out. "Gatling Gun!" The barrage of fists hit all over Haruko's body, slowly pushing him back. Each and every single one is payback for the pain they caused Alric and any others they might have hurt for money. After almost a minute of the barrage, Luffy stops.

Looking over his opponent, Luffy breaths heavily, wondering if he is done for. Haruko stands in place, not moving, looking like he is unconscious. Haruko falls forward and Luffy relaxes his shoulders and sighs, trying to stop his heavy breathing. Turning around he stops when he doesn't hear the thud of his opponents body hitting the ground. Looking over his shoulder he sees Haruko on one knee, struggling to stand back up. He looks up at Luffy with anger and excitement in his eyes. "This... is the.. toughest fight...I've had in years." He starts to laugh, almost enjoying it. "And I'm not going to lose!"

Luffy jumps and spins mid-air. "Gomu Gomu no," Stretching out his leg, he whips it around. Too slow to react, Luffy's foot smacks into the side of Haruko's head. "Whip." The force of the attack, causes Haruko's head to whip to the side, blood and a few teeth fly from his mouth. Completing the spin, Luffy launches his other foot. "Stamp." His other foot slams into Haruko's head, but Luffy continues to stretch his foot and so Haruko goes with it. Traveling across the room until they hit a wall, causing a huge cloud of dust. Luffy retracts his foot and lands on the ground. When the dust settles Haruko is laying on the ground underneath a impact crater on the wall. With his opponent not moving, Luffy walks over to his hat, emptying the coins out of it and placing it back on his head. Looking down at the coins, he stuffs a few in his pockets. "Can get some meat with this." He mumbles to himself, smiling. Walking away he stops, takes a few steps back and grabs more. Heading to the centre of the casino, Luffy checks up on Ace's fight. Getting ready to brag that he is done his fight before him, he stops suddenly when he sees Ace on the ground, and Hiroshi standing a few feet away, wiping away blood from his nose and spitting some out. "A-Ace." Luffy whispers.

Ace watches as his opponent stands back up, rubbing the back of his head. Hiroshi runs his hand through his slick hair, fixing it. "Hmmm, looks like you're stronger than I thought." Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, he faces Ace. "Guess I gotta be a little more serious."

Ace grabs his hat, taking it off his head and letting it hang on his neck. "Same."

They both kick at the same time, their legs crashing into each other. Retracting their legs, Hiroshi goes in for a punch. Blocking the attack and pushing the arm out of the way, Ace goes for his own punch over Hiroshi's arm. The attack connects, Hiroshi does a spin on his heel, using the momentum Ace's punch sent him. Spinning around he crouches down and elbows Ace in the side. Quickly spinning in the other direction, following up with a punch to his gut, causing Ace to double over. Hiroshi puts one arm on Ace's back to keep him leaning over, and brings his knee into Ace's gut, causing some air to escape from him. "You know," Ace punches Hiroshi in the gut with one hand, "if your gonna knee someone," and then the ribs with the other. Grabbing Hiroshi's head, "knee them in the head." Ace brings it to his knee. "Much more effective."

Hiroshi reels backwards, taking a few steps so as to not fall over. With his vision all blurred, he shakes his head to clear it. _This guy is stronger than I thought. Gonna have to be careful._They both charge at each other, Ace's fist colliding with Hiroshi's. Grabbing Ace's hand, Hiroshi pulls him forward planting his foot in his gut, knocking him on the ground. With Ace on the ground, Hiroshi uses this advantage to start stomping on his torso. Unable to do anything, Ace needs to get out of the disadvantage. After a few hits, Ace rolls out of the way and does a spin on his back, kicking out Hiroshi's leg, knocking him on his back, and using the momentum Ace stands up. Hiroshi too starts to stand up, only to be met with Ace's fist. Following it up with a kick to Hiroshi's ribs, breaking a few of them. Hiroshi coughs up some blood. Ace unloads a barrage of attacks, finishing it up with a direct punch to his opponents face, breaking his nose. Hiroshi falls back onto a slots machine, using it to hold himself up. "Well, isn't this embarrassing." Hiroshi chuckles.

"Not really," Ace points to himself. "your opponent was me."

"And who are you exactly?"

Ace grins, and puts his hands on his hips. "Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade pirates."

"Never heard of you." Hiroshi shakes his head.

"Just formed." He says with a smirk, and a cocky attitude.

"Y'know Ace, I rule this island with an iron fist," Hiroshi says, standing up. "but within the organization I work for, I'm nothing, compared to what you will have to worry about, later on."

"And what would that be?" Ace asks, eager for the challenge.

"My boss, who, rumour has it, used to be part of one of the Four Emperors crew." Ace raises an eyebrow, interested.

"Which one?" Ace's grin gets wider. "Now...I'm interested."

Hiroshi chuckles again, running his hand through his hair. "You must have a death wish. The crew he belonged to was Whitebeards."

"Interesting." Ace cracks his knuckles.

"Enough talking cowboy, lets finish this." Hiroshi gets ready.

"Lets."

Hiroshi grabbing a stool, Swings the seat at his opponent's head. Ace puts up his arm and blocks it. Taking the opportunity of Hiroshi's outstretched arm, Ace kicks him in the side. Cracking a few ribs. Taking a step forward, so as not to fall. Hiroshi clamps his arm over Ace's leg. Lifting him up, Hiroshi spins him around. With the motion of being spun around, Ace can't pull himself forward and hit Hiroshi. Eventually both combatants get dizzy and Hiroshi lets go. Flying through the air, Ace hits the wall that Hiroshi was pounding him into before. Falling to the floor, Ace tries to stand back up. Dizzy, mixed in with hitting his head off the wall, he has a hard time getting up. After a few attempts he finally gets up. Looking over at Hiroshi, he too is having a bit of difficulty. Ace takes a step forward, when darkness starts to cloud his vision. Shaking his head to get rid of it, but it won't go away. "No, no, no. Not now, not-" Unable to get rid of it, Ace falls to the ground.

Luffy stares in horror that Ace has been beaten. Luffy knows that Ace is stronger than him. Way stronger. So if Ace couldn't beat this guy, what chance could Luffy have. Even with how beat up he is. Knowing he might lose, Luffy takes a fighting stance anyway. Hiroshi stares at Ace's unconscious body, wondering what's going on. Just a few seconds ago this young man could have easily taken him out. Now he lay on the ground, defeated. Scrunching up his eyebrows, decides to use this to his advantage. Walking over to Ace's motionless body, Hiroshi plants his foot on his head. "Get off of him!"

Hiroshi looks over at Luffy with a deadly glare. "And what are you going to do about it Strawhat?" He presses harder down on Ace's head. "You know you're no match for me."

Knowing he might lose, Luffy charges at Hiroshi anyways. Getting ready to fight the boy, he hears something flying through the air. Jumping back, a spear goes right past his face, hitting a slot machine. Luffy stops when he sees the spear. Looking past Hiroshi, he sees Cicero with his slashing spear in one hand, and the other holding a wound. Breathing heavily he says. "God damn it Ace, why do you have to make my life more difficult?"

"Cicero!" Excitement in Luffy's voice.

"Hey," He does his best to wave. "came to check on him too, huh?"

"Looks like both of them lost." Hiroshi looks back between Luffy and Cicero. "How unexpected."

Both Luffy and Cicero walk to Ace, guarding him. "You sure you can fight?" Luffy looks over Cicero's injuries.

"Well, if you don't want me to then I'll sit this one out." Cicero's quick to say.

Luffy deadpans at Cicero's quick response. "Then as the duty of the first mate, I guess I'll take his position."

Luffy looks over Hiroshi's shoulder, towards the entrance. "Andon."

"Well, well, well. This keeps getting interesting." Hiroshi looks over his shoulder at Andon. "Three versus one."

"Two actually, I'm not part of this." Cicero points out.

"Doesn't matter," Hiroshi takes a fighting position. "lets get this over with."

Luffy charges at Hiroshi, ready to fight again, but stops when he hears snoring. Him and Cicero look behind themselves to see Ace on his back snoring away. Both their eyes go wide with shock, even Hiroshi and Andon. "WHAT!" Luffy and Cicero shout.

Cicero smacks his forehead with his hand. "You dumb ass!" He kicks Ace in the side.

Luffy punches him on the head. "Wake up!"

Ace slowly opens his eyes, rubbing his head. "What the hell happened? Why does my head hurt?"

"You fell asleep." Andon shakes his head.

Ace stands up. "Oh yeah."

"Don't 'Oh yeah' me!" Cicero yells. "We're all done our fights, and in case you didn't notice, I need a doctor!"

Ace pats Cicero's shoulder, "You'll be fine." but realizes that, that shoulder has a wound on it and Cicero is doing his best not to scream in pain. "Sorry, I'll finish this."

Cicero pushes Ace towards Hiroshi. "Then finish it!" He shouts, releasing his pain through that.

Ace stumbles forward, stopping when Hiroshi grabs his head. "I think I'll take your advice from earlier into account." Slamming Ace's head into his knee.

Ace reels backwards, blood oozing from his nose. Wiping away the blood, Ace readies himself and charges forward. Hiroshi puts himself on the defensive. Knowing that one good punch is all that Ace needs to beat him. So dodging is the best he can do. After a few minutes of dodging, Hiroshi finally goes for the attack. Ducking under a fist, Hiroshi punches Ace in the gut. While Ace elbows him in the back, cracking a couple more ribs. Coughing up more blood, Hiroshi has a hard time standing and stumbles a few times. Doing a back flip, Ace kicks his opponent in the chin. The attack causes Hiroshi to take a few steps back to stop himself from falling. With his vision blurry and starting to get cloudy, Hiroshi shakes his head to get rid of it. Not done though, Ace jumps forward, ready to finish the fight.

Arm stretching outward, Ace clotheslines his opponent, he hits the ground head first, cracking the floor. To make sure his opponent is done for, Ace stops himself, and falls backwards to the ground. Slamming his elbow into his opponent's head, causing a huge plume of dust. When the cloud of dust settles. Ace stands up and looks down at his unconscious opponent. The ground is has more cracks in it, and Hiroshi`s head sits in a crater. Wiping away a bit more blood from his face, Ace looks over at his crew, raises an eyebrow. "I'd say we're done here"

Cicero puts his hand up in the air. "I agree." Slowly he starts to fall forward, until he hits the ground. "Can somebody please get my spears...and then carry me." Andon shakes his head, and walks away to look for Cicero's spears. Ace picks him up and throws him over his shoulders. "Thanks... I think... I'm gonna need a blood transfusion."

"Meh, you'll be fine." Ace says walking out of the casino.

Andon walks back to where the group was with Cicero's spears in hand. Looking around he sees that they all left him. Throwing his arms up in the air. "The hell?"

* * *

><p>Longest chapter to date. And I know you guys are probably excited or something about what Hiroshi said. Hoping the next chapter will be up on time, but i can't make any promises. Hope you all enjoyed and please review.<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Wow, this one took a long time. Sorry about that, it's just that this month has been a bit stressful. Anyway, figured it's been a while since I've thanked you all for the reviews, favourites, story alerts, all that. So thanks, they all help. I had a friend tell me I should post these on DeviantART, considering I have an account, but no pictures. I might do that, but it would be in September. Enough of me rambling and go enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

Walking outside of the casino, Ace takes a good look of the crowd of people. Raising an eyebrow, he says. "I don't remember making that much of a ruckus to attract this much attention," He looks back at the others. "Did we?"

Luffy shrugs, while Andon puts up his hand. "That was my fight," Pointing to the unconscious bodies of the security force. "Some of them brought bazookas."

Ace takes a step forward, but stops himself. Looking back at the casino, he remembers what he said to get the people out of the building. Turning around he heads back to the casino. "Hey," Cicero tries to get Ace's attention. "Hey, where are we going? I need a doctor!"

"Oh, you will be fine." Ace gently puts Cicero down. "Now come on, help us out." He says, walking into the casino.

Cicero slowly stands back up, trying to be careful of his wounds. "Help you with what?" Walking to the entrance he retrieves his spears from Andon, nodding his thanks. Inside he sees Ace and Luffy kicking slot machines, stuffing their pockets with the money that comes out. Heading to a few tables they take what money was left behind, but they quickly make their way to the back. Following them, Cicero sees Andon do the same thing. "Really?" Andon shrugs his shoulders. Shaking his head, Cicero goes to the back to find the two brothers.

Walking around the main floor, Andon takes a few coins here and there. Hearing someone cough, he looks around for the source. Hearing a thud, Andon sees Yamamoto laying on a table, breathing heavily, clutching his wounds. Looking over at Andon, he gives a heavy sigh. "Coming back to finish the job?"  
>"Nope," Andon grabs a few bills next to Yamamoto. "Something else." He stuffs the money in his pocket.<p>

"So you were... here for... that after all." Yamamoto says between breaths.

"No, we were hear to pay you guys back, for what you did to Alric." Andon walks around looking for more money. "Though, we are pirates, so we have to make some sort of income." Picking up a few more coins.

"Hmmm," Yamamoto stares up at the ceiling. After a minute of silence he asks. "How are the other two?"

Andon stops and looks over at the wounded man. Surprised he asked. "Well," Andon starts, playing with a coin in his hand. "Luffy's doesn't look like the killing type, so the bald guy should be fine. And your leader is unconscious over there." He points to the area where Ace and Hiroshi fought.

Yamamoto slowly nods his head. "Good."

Turning around a corner, Cicero finally finds the two. "There you are," He catches up to them. "Where are you going?"

"Looking for the vault, where they keep their money." Ace says, walking around another corner.

"What?" Cicero stops for a second. "You don't actually believe that do you?"

"Believe what?" Luffy asks, following his brother.

"That every casino has a vault in the back where they keep their money."

Turning another corner, the two brothers stop and grin, wide. "Oh, we do." Ace says, staring at a giant vault door, open.

Cicero couldn't believe it. The door is open. Money just sitting there, waiting to be taken. "This can't be that easy." He looks around. "There has to be some trap."

"You think too much Cicero." Ace and Luffy walk into the room. A tile under Luffy's foot goes down and the vault door slams shut. The wheel on it spins until they hear a click, indicating that the door is locked.

"I'm sorry, but what was it that I do too much?" Cicero asks, putting his hand behind his ear. "Hmm?"

"Think." Ace looks over the door. "This is just a minor setback."

"What, minor?"

"Yep," Ace cracks his knuckles. "Luffy, help me with this."

They both grab the wheel to unlock the door, and they start to pull. "No, no way." Cicero shakes his head, refusing to believe that they will pull the door off. After a few minutes of pulling, the door starts to creak. Soon after the door starts to give way and comes off. Causing a big plume of dust. Cicero's jaw hits the floor. _Who are these people? _Runs through his mind.

Leaning the door against the wall, the boys stand there waiting for the dust to clear. Once it does, they take a good look at the money. Looking back at Cicero, Ace says with a big grin on his face. "See, a minor setback."

Staring at the ceiling, Alric continues to wonder if those kids are alright. They shouldn't be dealing with his problems, but he is thankful. No one else was willing to help him, not even his friends who came with him to the island. Then, these total stranger come along, these kids. They spend one night with him, and that was all it took for them to go and fight the guys who beat him. Tears start to stings his eyes. Closing them he says. "Thank you."

"Your welcome."

Opening his eyes, Alric sees the group standing in the doorway. They all walk into the room, with bandages on them. They all lay down on a bed. The doctor attaching a blood bag to Cicero. Shifting around in his bed, Alric asks. "What happened?"

"We kicked ass." Luffy responds, pumping his hand in the air.

Alrics looks over at Ace. "I think they got the message." Ace reaches over and gently grabs Alrics shoulder.

Tears spill from his eyes, "Thank you, all of you."

Andon nods, while Cicero gives him the thumbs up. "You done?" Everybody looks over at the doctor. "Good, now shut up and get some sleep. I'll let you all go tomorrow."

Sitting in a tree, a man stares at the moon, watching it slowly rise. Flipping a coin through his fingers in one hand, holding a burning letter in the other. When the letter is nearly done burning, he smirks, and tosses it to the ground. Stopping the coin, he flips it high in the air. "Heads, I visit them," The coin starts to fall back down. "Tails, I wait another hour." Catching the coin, he opens his hand. His smirk grows wide across his face. "Excellent."

Jumping down from the tree, he picks up a backpack, and walks over to the damaged casino. Reaching the entrance, he sees a couple guards. One of them walks in front of him, and puts his hand up. "Halt, this place is off limits."

The man strikes the guard in the neck, causing a loud crack. The guard falls to the ground, lifeless. The other guard points his gun at the man, ready to shoot. Though the man moves to fast for the guard, getting behind the man. The guard's eyes go wide in surprise, but the man snaps his neck. Watching the body fall to the ground. Walking towards the casino, he takes a white snail out of his bag and places it on the outside wall. Going inside the building, the man sneaks past the few guards that are awake. Not having too hard of a time, as they are occupying themselves with drinks. Reaching the main office, he quietly opens the door. Looking inside, he sees Hiroshi sitting in his chair, talking to his two henchmen. Yamamoto speaks first. "So, what are we gonna do boss?"

Hiroshi brushes his hand through his hair. "As much as a fuck up this is, I've sent a letter to the Captain. Hopefully he'll be understanding." The man grins hearing the conversation.

"The Captain may be strong, but I don't think he's ruthless." Yamamoto says. "It's not like we've screwed up before."

"True, we should get off easy." Noticing that the door is open, Hiroshi stands. "Who's there? Show yourself."

Opening the door the man reveals himself. "Oh, it's you Mir," Hiroshi sighs and sits back down. "Thought you were somebody else."

"Getting paranoid?" Mir asks.

"A little," Hiroshi brushes his hand through his hair. "Thought you were somebody trying to get some payback of their own," He looks back at the board replacing the glass.

Mir chuckles. "I take it some have tried?"

"A few," Hiroshi reaches down and pulls out a bottle of whiskey and glasses. Pouring the dark liquid, Yamamoto and Haruko take one. "So what brings you here?"

Mir closes the door behind him and locks it. "Captain Tural sent me."

Hiroshi's glass stops before his mouth. "The Captain," He whispers. "Why?" _The letter shouldn't even be near the Grandline._

Mir walks towards the desk, grabbing Hiroshi's glass and finishing it. Slamming the glass on the table, they hear one of the guards shout about the dead ones outside. "To cause Mayhem." Pulling out a pistol, he points it at Haruko's head and pulls the trigger. Haruko's body falls to the ground with a loud thud, blood pooling around his head, grey brain matter splattered on the wall. Yamamoto pulls out his sword, but Mir was faster. He points the gun at the swordsman and fires a few shots. Yamamoto falls to the ground dead too. Before Hiroshi could react, Mir had the gun to his head. "The Captain didn't send you, did he."

Mir grabs what was to be his glass and downs that drink too. "I'll let you decide." He pulls the trigger.

Ace crawls out of bed, stretching his arms. Looking around he sees that only Luffy and Cicero are still in bed. With the position Luffy is in, he's not exactly 'in' bed. Grabbing his hat, and putting it on his head, Ace walks to the next room. Opening the door, the smell of food hits Ace's nostrils. Taking in the smell, he runs to the table. Pulling a chair from the table, he sees it's already been taken. Luffy is now sitting in it, grabbing as much food as he can and stuffing it in his mouth. "O-Oi!" Ace grabs another chair, but Cicero is now sitting in it, eating food. "Hey!"

Alric laughs, while Andon shakes his head. Ace finally gets a chair and starts to chow down. After the battle that was breakfast. The crew walks outside. "Thanks for taking care of us, Doc." Ace says.

"No problem." The doctor has a big grin on his face, counting the big wad of money on his desk.

Each of the crew members pick up a large bag full of money and walk to the docks. Along the way people stare at them, jaws dropping to the ground, seeing the large bags of money. "So, why did you take all the money?" Alric whispers to Ace, looking at the crowd nervously.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Ace looks over at Andon. "Hey, Andon, what did you say last night?"

"We're pirates, we have to make a profit somehow." Andon repeats, adjusting the bag of money on his back.

"Think we can buy a decent enough boat with this money." Cicero asks, looking at their boat from the distance.

"About that," Alric stops, getting the crews attention. "I was thinking you guys could take my ship."

The crews eyes go wide in surprise. Wondering why he would offer up his ship. "What about you?" Ace asks. "That's your home."

"Well, I'll stick with you guys till the next island, but after that I will find a boat to take me home."

Looking around, Andon starts to notice that more and more people are distancing themselves from the crew. Most of them have a look of horror, and disgust. All of them whispering about something. "I think it's about time to get moving."

"I agree," Cicero looks around too. "People are starting to give us even more weird looks."

Looking at the crowds in the distance, Ace says. "Yeah, I've noticed." Turning to the docks he walks in that direction. "Lets go."

On the way to the docks, everybody the crew ran into moved out of their way. The looks not stopping nor getting better. Some people in their house closed doors and windows. Once at the docks the crew takes all their belongings from the small boat they have to the ship next to it. Standing on the deck of the ship, Ace looks around. "This is a bit big for five people." Scratching his head, he faces Alric. "How many people can this hold?"

"About fifteen people," Alric grabs a chair and sits down. "You won't have to worry about space for a while."

The ship was big, it has two masts, which take up most of the space in the front. A large cabin in the back, which has multiple bedrooms, small living area and a kitchen. Below deck is storage, and a few cannons. The ship itself is purple, two anchors at the front, and a horse skull with flame decals as the figurehead. Ace grabs a chair of his own and sits down. "This looks more like a pirate ship than an adventurers ship."

"Good, cause that's the look we were trying to go for."

"Why?"

"We thought that if we looked like a threat, then nobody would bother us. And it worked."

Ace thought about it for a second, and then shrugs his shoulder. "Hey Cicero!"

Cicero pops his head from the crows nest in the front mast. "What?" He asks, annoyed.

"We need to figure out where we are going to next."

Cicero sighs. "Fine." Closing the book in his hand, he puts it in his bag. Climbing down, he walks towards the cabin, waving Ace to follow him.

Sitting up, Ace yells. "Luffy, Andon, get this ship out of the dock!"

"Okay!"

Alrics sits up too. "Here, I'll help."

Inside the cabin Ace sits across from Cicero. Pulling out a map of East Blue, Cicero asks. "Where to?"

Ace smirks. "The Grand Line."

"Guess I should have known that." Looking over the map, Cicero finds their position. Furrowing his brows, he looks up at Ace.

Raising an eyebrow, he asks. "What?"

"Slight problem." Turning the map towards Ace, Cicero points to where the entrance to where the Grand Line is. "This is where you want to go." Ace nods. Cicero moves his finger to the other side of the map. "This is where we are." Ace's eyes go wide, looking at the distance. "You had no idea where you were going before right?"

Ace nods his head. "Well, how long would it take to get there?"

Cicero sighs, calculating the distance. "With the supplies we have, we might make it, just as we run out of food."

"Even with Luffy's appetite?"

"Okay, we might want to make a pitstop somewhere." Looking back at the map, he looks for a reasonable place to stop. Seeing one he points to it. "There, if we make a quick stop there for supplies, we would be well off to make a straight shot for Lougetown, get even more supplies and then it's off to our deaths." Cicero finally takes a breath, after explaining.

Ace stands up and puts his hands on his hips. "Perfect!"

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Wasn't originally gonna have the part with Mir and Hiroshi, but I figured a little plot movement was needed. Might be a while before I update again, but I will as soon as I can. Hope you enjoyed, and please review!


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Good news everyone, I'm alive. The last month has been busy for me. In the beginning of September I moved from one province to another, so I was busy unpacking and all that. I also had no internet until recently. I know I could have kept writing, but i didn't even have a computer set up. Also Borderlands 2 was taking up my time. So yeah, I'm back. And just a little reminder that I still need a doctor for the crew. Keep in mind that the doctor is gonna appear later, so try to make them strong. Like Water 7 strong. Also please send them through private message, because apparently I can get in trouble by asking them through the review system. So enough of me talking, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

With one hand on the wheel and another holding an umbrella, covering the map, Cicero does battle against the raging storm. Not too long ago the crew was celebrating. They got a ship and lots of money to go with it. Luffy also invited Alric to join the crew, but he refused. Saying the pirates life is not for him. Unfortunately their party was cut short as a thunder storm rolled in. Moving inside they hoped it would pass. They were wrong. "Come on you son of a bitch!" Cicero yells over the rain. "Turn!" He starts to rapidly spin the wheel.

A wave crashes into the ship pushing it the other way. "I said starboard, damn it." he puts the map in his mouth and lets go of the umbrella, having it blown away to sea. "Come on."

Inside Andon and Alric watch the two brothers argue. Both of them shaking papers in the others face. "Our Jolly Roger will be this!" Ace shoves the paper in Luffy's face.

"No, this!" Luffy does the same to Ace.

"They have been going at this since we came inside." Alric stares in shock. "Does this always happen?" He looks to Andon.

He nods his head, scratching the blue hair on his head. "Yeah, just hope this will be the only time you see it."

"What's so great about yours, huh?" Luffy asks, getting in Ace's face.

"First off," He shoves his little brother back. "I have an actual design." He points to the paper which has the usual skull and crossbones, wearing his hat with flames coming from the top, a spade behind it and the word SPADE below it. "And can tell what it is." Ace points to Luffy's poorly drawn picture. "I don't even know what yours is."

"It's a Jolly Roger. See, here is the skull and crossbones and it's wearing my hat." Luffy points to the different parts.

Ace raises an eyebrow and turns his head to the side. Andon and Alric follow. After a few minutes, they switch sides. "Oh now I see it." Alric says.

"I don't." Ace shakes his head

"Same." Andon agrees.

"What?!" Luffy looks at the paper, turning it each and every way. "I totally see it."

"Then how about a vote?" Ace crosses his arms. "Those who want mine, raise your hand." Both Andon and Alric raise their hands. "See?" Ace grins and raises his eyebrow.

"That's not fair," Luffy points to Alric. "He's not even on the crew."

"Then lets ask Cicero."

"I did it!"

Everyone turns their head to the door when they heard Cicero scream. Getting up they walk out the door outside. Looking around they see the sun and clear skies. Looking to the front they see Cicero dancing by the wheel. The crew stands there in silence watching him. When Cicero finally turns around he stops, wide eyed. He slowly straightens himself. After a minute of silence Ace raises both his and Luffy's drawings. "Mine or his." Shaking who's is which.

"Yours." Cicero quickly answers.

Luffy throws his arms in the air. "Ah!" Grabbing his paper he goes back inside. "This isn't over!"

"Oh it is." Laughing, Ace goes back inside. Andon following behind shaking his head.

Cicero walks to the cabin shaking all the water off. "I need to change." Walking past Alric he says. "Sorry about your umbrella."

"Wait, what happened to my umbrella?"

The next morning Luffy wakes up to notice that Ace is not in his bed. Normally this wouldn't surprise him because he's usually the last one out of bed. Though Andon is also missing, and he is usually the first up. Glancing over at Alric's and Cicero's sleeping bodies, Luffy suspects something is up. Hearing a thud, he hears Ace say something about being done. Opening the door he hears Andon say. "Are you sure you should be eating that?"

"I don't know, tastes like it's gone bad."

Stepping outside he sees Ace and Andon standing together. Ace is covered in paint and eating a strange looking banana. Seeing Luffy, Ace grins and then points up. Dreading to look up, he reluctantly does. On the sail and the flag on top of the mast is the Jolly Roger Ace drew up. "NO!"

Hearing Luffy scream the remaining sleeping crew members jolt out of their beds and run outside. Cicero has one of his spears in hand, Alric hiding behind the door frame, poking his head out. Not seeing a threat they relax. Looking down at Luffy, whose on his knees punching the floor, repeatedly saying, no. Cicero looks at Ace questionably. He points up, causing him to look up. Seeing the Jolly Roger, Cicero sighs. "I'm gonna get dressed."

Alric gets out from behind the door frame. "I'll get breakfast ready."

Luffy watches in horror, how the others can just continue on like it's nothing. Looking at Andon he grabs his shirt. "How could you not stop him?"

Andon takes Luffy's hands off his shirt. "First, it's not my decision. Second, he was half way done when I woke up. And third, he took initiative."

Ace pats his little brothers shoulders. "Guess that makes me captain." He grins.

Walking to the dining area, Ace ignores his brothers screams. Inside, he sits at the table along with Andon and Cicero. Luffy comes in later, still sulking. Taking another bite of the banana, Ace scrunches his face in disgust, "Oi, Alric."

"Yeah, what?" He places a few strips of bacon in a frying pan.

"Whats with this banana? Tastes really bad?"

Alric turns around. "Wha-" His eyes go wide in shock, and his jaw drops. Everyone looks at him wondering whats wrong. "M-m-my Devil Fruit."

Everyone slowly looks over at Ace, their eyes wide too. Some waiting to see if something happens. To see what kind of Devil Fruit he just accidentally ate. Ace looks at the banana peel, absorbing what Alric said. "Oh, shit."

Ace bursts into flames, causing everyone to jump back in surprise. "Oh, shit!" They all yell.

Alric quickly grabs a towel and tries to put the new captain out, only for the towel to catch flames too. The crew all scrambles to find something to put Ace out, while he rolls on the floor. After nothing works, Alric yells. "Get outside!"

Running outside, Ace runs for the railing. "The ocean!"

"No!" Everybody puts their hands out to grab him, but it was too late. Ace jumps over the railing and into the ocean. They all run up to the railing and watch Ace slowly fall deeper and deeper.

Cicero takes off his shirt, "That idiot." and dives into the ocean.

Sniffing the air, Andon smells something burning. "You guys smell something burning?"

"Yeah, everything." Alric sarcastically answers, watching the ocean.

Luffy sniffs the air too. "No, it smells like bacon."

"Oh shit, breakfast!" Alric runs inside to save the food.

Cicero surfaces from the water, with Ace in his arms. "Hey, a little help here!" Andon tosses down a rope ladder. "Gee, thanks. Now how the hell am I suppose to climb with this dumb ass in my arms?"

Luffy stretches his arm down and grabs Ace. Pulling him up, he lays him down on the floor. They look at Ace, who is not moving. "I know how to fix this." Luffy steps on Ace's chest, causing water to squirt out of his mouth. Andon looks at Luffy questionably. Luffy shrugs. "He always did this to me when I fell in."

Cicero climbs over the railing, breathing a bit heavily. "So how is he?"

Ace starts to cough, spewing out more water. "He'll be fine." Luffy gives a wide grin.

Standing up, Ace grabs the railing for support, heavily breathing. "I have a new found respect for Devil Fruit users."

"Well you're gonna have to, cause you are one now." Andon puts his hands on his hips.

"I can't believe you guys deal with this all the time." Ace points to the other two users.

"Only when we fall in the ocean." Luffy replies.

Andon sighs, knowing Luffy wouldn't give a detailed answer. "You'll get used to the fatigue loss, but there is no preventing it. The first few times can be brutal." Ace nods his head understanding what he means. "For some reason rain and showers don't affect us, but baths will. So no more baths."

"Ah, man." Ace whines.

"Also, the more water you're standing in, the more energy you lose." Andon holds his hands wide apart as an example. "The ocean takes away a lot, because it covers us whole. So it's the most dangerous for us."

Ace nods his head understanding. "Right, thanks for the info."

Alric sticks his head out the door, "Oi, breakfast is ready." Inside the dining room the crew looks at the half burnt table, and chairs. "Yeah, turns out more than breakfast was burning."

Ace chuckles, scratching the back of his head. "Heh, sorry about that."

"Don't apologize to me," He points to the other crew members with the spatula in his hand. "Apologize to them. It's your ship now."

"Speaking of the ship," Andon sits down. "What's it called? I saw the initials I.S. On the side."

"What is it called Alric?" Ace asks shoving food into his mouth.

The former captain sits down, starring at his food. Everyone stops eating and focus their attention on Alric. Except Luffy who continues to stuff food in his mouth. "I think I'll let you guys come up with a name for it."

"Really?" Everyone asks.

"Yep," He nods his head. "New crew, new name."

Everyone immediately starts to think of a new name for the ship, they want it to be something good and special, because this ship is now their new home, and they want it to have a good name. After a few minutes of thinking Luffy speaks up. "How about Infinity Ship." Everyone looks at Luffy with confused looks. "Think about it, this is our ship and there are an infinite amount of places it can take us."

Everyone looks at each other surprised that Luffy came up with that. "I like it." Andon nods his head. The others nod too in agreement.

"Then it's settled," Ace stands up with a glass in hand. "From now on this ship will be called, Infinity Ship."

Everyone stands up and raises their glass. "Cheers!" Touching glasses together they all down their drinks.

Sitting down, Cicero asks. "So what's our pirate crew name?"

"We already have one." Ace pours more orange juice.

"What?" Cicero leans in. "When was that?"

"Yesterday." Ace takes a bite of his food.

Cicero looks to Luffy and Andon for confirmation. The two nod their heads. He points to Alric. "Did you know about this?" He nods too. Cicero throws his arms up in the air. "Why wasn't I informed about this?"

"Sorry," Ace swallows his food. "Guess we forgot."

Cicero leans back in the chair, taking a bite of his food. Pointing his fork at Ace, he asks. "So, what is it?"

"Spade pirates."

Cicero chuckles. "Like ace of spades." Ace nods his head, proud of that fact that he came up of it. "Clever."

"Thanks." Nodding his thanks too. "So how far are we from our destination?"

"Not too far now." Cicero refills his glass. "As annoying as that storm was, it was helpful too."

"How?" Ace stabs the table in front of Luffy's hand, who was trying to steal some of his brothers food.

"Well, most of the wave hit us from behind, pushing us forward." Cicero takes a sip of his drink. "I'd have to say lady luck was on our side."

"Good to know." Ace takes another bite of his food.

The rest of breakfast goes as usual, except for one thing. Luffy doesn't try to steal anymore food. Ace glances a few times at his little brother wondering if he is okay. Once Alric finished washing the dishes and putting them away, the crew goes out to enjoy the day. Cicero walks to the front, yelling out orders to get the ship ready to sail. "Luffy, unfurl the sails." Luffy stretches his arms to the top and pulls himself up. "Ace, hoist up the anchor."

"Okay." Ace jogs over to the railing, he starts to pull up the anchor. Looking over his shoulder he sees Luffy jump down, and walk back inside. With the the anchor pulled up, he attaches it to the ship.

Andon looks down from the crows nest, seeing his captain starring at the cabin. Parts of him on fire. "Oi, Ace!" He calls down, catching his captains attention. "You might want to control your new found powers before you burn the ship down."

"I've been meaning to ask." Alric walks up to Ace, examining the flames. "What kind of Devil Fruit did you eat?"

"I'm kinda wondering where you got it?" Ace counters.

"Won it in poker, just never ate it because that itself is a gamble."

"I don't know about that." Ace looks at his flaming hand. "When I found it, it was almost like it was telling me what it was."

Alric looks from Ace's hand to his eyes. "What was it then?"

"The Mero Mero no Mi." Ace takes a deep breath, causing the flames to disappear. Holding his hand out it catches aflame. "Cool."

"Flame?" Alric examines the hand.

Andon jumps down from the last few rungs of the ladder leading up to the crows nest. "Then if my suspicions are correct, then," Andon points a finger at Ace and fires a laser at his chest. The laser goes right through, leaving a gaping hole in Ace's chest. "You are a Logia."

Ace stares at the hole in his chest. Flames covering the insides. After a few seconds the hole disappears. "Awesome." Ace's face quickly goes from excitement to anger. He points a flaming finger at Andon. "You shot me!"

Andon shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry. Besides, even if I was wrong it wasn't strong enough to do serious damage to you."

"Man, this kinda sucks." Cicero complains, leaning of a railing.

"Why is that?" Alric asks.

"What if all three of you fall in the ocean?" Cicero points to the ocean. "I won't be able to save all of you."

"You'll have to get stronger then, won't you?" Ace grins.

Hearing someone clear their throat, the crew looks at the cabin and they see Luffy with mugs in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other. Handing out the mugs to everyone, the crew sees that they are already filled. Holding up his Luffy says. "To the new ship, the crew name," He looks over to Ace. "And the new captain. Cheers."

Ace smiles at his little brother. As much of an idiot he can be, Ace knows he can be very mature. "Thanks bro."

Clanking their mugs together, the crew all yell. "Cheers!"

* * *

><p>Don't got much to say down here, other than please review. They really help. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Holy crap I got a chapter out on time AND I'm already working on next weeks. I guess that's the advantage for you guys when I have crap internet, and there is nothing to distract me lol. Been playing Pokemon recently and I swear that Graveler is the most suicidal Pokemon. It uses nothing but self destruction. Which is also really annoying. Remember that I am still accepting OCs, but only for the doctor position and villains. I mainly need minor villains, so I can fill in some one on one fights. Though I'll let you all know when I really need them, but do send them anyways. Also please PM them to me. Enough of me rambling, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

Infinity Ship, slowly moves into the dock. Cicero quickly checks the port side, making sure they are close enough. Seeing that they are, he nods his head and signals Ace to lower the anchor. The captain of the ship drops the heavy weight, into the calm waters. Ace sticks himself over the railing, as much as he can, hopeful that some of the water will hit him as the anchor splashes the water up. When some does he sighs in relief. Cicero feels the ship dip to the starboard side. He turns to Ace and yells. "You're suppose to lower it, not drop it!"

Ace looks over his shoulder. "If you were as hot as I am right now, you wouldn't give a damn." Fully turning around, he leans on the railing and slides to the ground, hiding from the sun. Since eating the Devil Fruit, he started to complain about how hot he is. He kept getting hotter and hotter, eventually staying outside during the night to sleep. Even then he didn't get much. "I hate this damned Devil Fruit."

"Maybe if you learn to control it," Cicero notices that a few parts of him are on fire. Ace pats them out "It might not be as bad."

"How though?" Ace threw his arms up in the air. "I have no idea on how to control this."

"That will come over time and practice." Andon walks up, handing Ace a cup of water.

"Thanks." Ace accepts the cup. Disgust comes across Ace's face when he takes a sip. "Eww, it's warm."

"Weird, I would've sworn that it was cold when I handed it to you."

Ace slowly watches as the water begins to boil. The other watch as steam comes out of the cup. "Wow," Cicero says in amazement. "We have our own living, breathing kettle."

After a minute the water eventually evaporates. "As awesome as that was, I need to control this." Placing the cup down, the fire user looks up to Andon. "How did you manage to control yours?"

Andon shrugs his shoulders. "Again, it just came over time. I practiced a few times a day. Though the first few days, you wouldn't imagine the amount of shoes I went through. Plus I'm a paramecia, and you're a logia."

"You can shoot with your toes?" Ace is surprised, as well as Cicero.

"Yeah," Andon looks down at his feet. "But it causes holes in my shoes. Hence the fingerless gloves."

"Oi!" Someone calls, getting their attention. They see Luffy and Alric on the other side lowering the plank. "You guys coming?"

Ace sighs, slowly getting up. He waves back, signalling that they are. "I think," Andon takes off his fedora, scratching his hair. "If you just practice focusing the heat in one area, like your hand, you might not be as hot."

Ace pulls his hat off his back and places it on his head. "Okay, let me try." He raises his hand in front of his face, focusing on it. Andon and Cicero watch closely, after a minute they look at each other and then back at Ace. Luffy and Alric watch from a distance, wondering what the trio is up to. Eventually Ace's hand bursts into flames. "Ha ha, I did it." Andon pats him on the back, quickly realizing the mistake he wipes the sweat off on his pants. With the heat all in his hand now, Ace feels much cooler. Sighing in relief, and breaking his concentration, the fire in his hand makes a small explosion. Andon and Cicero jump back, away from the fire. Ace immediately felt the heat rush back. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Cicero speaks. "Just, be careful."

"Will do." Noticing Luffy and Alric are still waiting, they take off. "I'll practice some more later."

"Yeah, when your not trying to burn off our eyebrows." Cicero jokes.

Passing the mast, Ace grabs a large bag from behind it, "Here catch." Throwing it at Alric.

Catching it, he looks in the bag and notices it's full of money. He looks up at Ace, confused. "Why?"

"You want to get home and start a new life don't you?" Ace asks, causing Alric to nod his head. "Then you're gonna need money."

Smiling, Alric hangs the bag over his shoulder. "Thank you," He looks at the others. "All of you, thanks. This past week has been one of the best times of my life."

"Hey, no problem." Ace swings his arm over Alric's shoulder. "You're our friend." Alric looks at the others, all of them nodding their heads. "Now get off my ship."

Alric laughs, along with everyone else. Walking down the plank, they walk to solid ground. "Well, I guess this is where we say good bye."

"I like 'see you later' better."

Alric chuckles, "Alright then, see you guys later." He turns around and heads down the dock, looking for a ship to take him home.

The crew wave bye to him as he walks away. They will never forget Alric, and what he has given them to help along their journey. As they finish waving Luffy speaks up. "I'm hungry, lets get food."

"Shouldn't we get supplies first?" Cicero suggests.

Luffy waves him off, "We can do that later." Turning he walks down a street, looking for a bar to fill his appetite.

Ace follows immediately, with Cicero and Andon reluctantly following behind. Walking around town, they notice a lot of the people here look dangerous. All of them look ready to fight at the drop of a hat. It doesn't surprise them when they walk past an alley, watching a group of people fighting each other.

Hearing a crashing sound, they look to see a man laying on the ground, broken glass surrounds him. The doors to a bar swing open, a man in a stereotypical pirate hat and coat, a green mullet sticking out the back, walks out. His ears covered in piercings, rings on each finger, covered in blood. The man is laughing hysterically, as he walks up to the one on the ground. He starts to repeatedly kick the guy in the stomach. "To think you have a bounty of seven million!" he kicks the man again, this time causing a loud crack from breaking bones. "You're no threat. I, on the other hand, am a threat. I have a bounty of twelve million." He points to himself. "Everything I wear, is taken from pirates I have defeated." He points to his boots, "Everything from my steel toed boots," He points to his hat. "Up to my hat."

The man coughs up blood, spitting it on the ground. He chuckles. "Even your underwear?"

The man with the higher bounty gives the other man a deadly glare. He reaches his hand back. "Pliers!" He demands. A man with a rifle slung over his shoulder hands him pliers. Kneeling down in front of the injured man, he waves the tool in his face. "When I said that your gold tooth is mine," He grabs the man by the jaw, forcing it open. "I wasn't joking." Sticking the pliers in the mans mouth, he starts to pull. The man screams in pain, waving his arms and legs around, too weak to do anything. With one big pull, the stronger man, pulls the tooth out. Standing up he holds the tooth up in the air, for everyone to see. The group of people standing at the bars entrance start to cheer. He points to the man lying of the ground. "And that's why you don't mess with me." Pocketing the tooth, he faces the cheering people. "We're done here, lets head back to the ship." The man, who the crew assume to be the leader of the group, walks towards the docks. "Jacob, kill the weakling."

The man with the rifle stops, turns around, and walks to the injured man. Slinging his rifle off his shoulder, he points it at the man. The man puts his hand up and crawls backwards. Pleading for his life. As if he heard none of it, Jacob pulls the trigger. The bullet pierces the mans hand, hitting his head, causing blood, bone, and brain matter to spray the ground. Cicero looks away, while Andon and Ace watch. Luffy stares at the ground, seething with anger. Turning around, he takes a step forward before a hand grabs his shoulder, stopping him. "Let go Ace." Luffy nearly snaps at him.

"There is no point Luffy. We acted to late." Ace looks around at the crowd, watching as they go back to what they were doing beforehand. "Fighting that guy now, would not bring that man back to life."

"You should listen to him sonny." A voice says, catching the crews attention. The crew look an see an old man, hunched over with a cane supporting him, and a long grey beard. "You'd be wasting your life trying to fight him."

"Why is that?" Andon asks.

"He's the third strongest pirate captain here. His name is Kew Stamp 'The Collector', captain of the Collecting Pirates."

"Who's the strongest?"

"That would be Don Krieg, captain of the Krieg Pirates." The old man walks away, signalling for the crew to follow. "Though he is not here at the time. He gathered as many pirates he could and left to the Grand Line not too long ago. He had fifty ships to his name."

"So who's in between?" Ace asks.

"A new guy. Showed up not too long after Krieg left. Managed to take the down the previous second place holder with ease. His name is 'Metal Man' James Weston, captain of the Iron Pirates."

"I've heard of Krieg, and Kew sounds familiar, but I don't think I ever heard of James." Andon says, looking up to the sky, thinking.

"I've never heard of any of these guys." Ace looks to Andon. "How do you?"

"I lived on a marine base, remember. I've seen bounties of pirates every now and then. Krieg has been around for a while, Kew I've seen once, but his bounty was lower." Andon stops walking, hands on his hips, doing his best to remember if he heard of this James. "I think James must have got his bounty in the past two years. I don't remember him."

"Mr. Weston is currently the strongest person on this island, we don't even know if he could beat Krieg. There are rumors that he has the power of a Devil Fruit." The old man stops, glancing over his shoulder. "But he's not the only person to watch out for. He has a swordsman, who is extremely powerful." The old man turns and faces the crew. "I've met some powerful people in my time, even the Pirate King when he started his little adventure." This catches Luffy's attention, eyes going wide. "This woman though, is strong. She may not see it, and others might not, but James does and he keeps her on a short leash."

"You met the Pirate King?" Luffy asks, grabbing the old man by the shoulders. Excitement building up in him. "And who keeps a person on a leash?"

"Not literally you dumb ass." Ace slaps Luffy's head.

"Yes, but I didn't know him personally. And no I don't know the location of One Piece." The old man pokes Luffy with his cane, pushing him back. "I only met him briefly to patch him up from a fight, that's it."

"Wow, never knew I'd run into someone who met Gold Roger." Luffy says with stars in his eyes.

"He only had a small group of people like you guys." The old man looks over the crew. "Kinda remind me of them." He looks at Luffy, who is still fawning over the old man. "Except for that idiot."

Ace chuckles. "Yeah, he's obsessed with finding One Piece."

Luffy puffs out his chest and points his thumb at himself. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be the next King of the Pirates."

The old man laughs. "You and millions of others kid, good luck." The old man sticks his hand out. "The names Elijah."

Ace shakes his hand. "Portgas D. Ace, captain of the recently formed Spade Pirates."

"Pirates, huh?" He starts to stroke his beard. "Guess you'd have to be with him." Points to Luffy with his cane.

"We both wanted to become one. This is Cicero, our Navigator," Cicero waves. "Andon, our Sharpshooter." Andon tips his fedora. "And Luffy, my younger brother."

"So your not blood related?" Elijah points his cane at Luffy and Ace.

"No, but we grew up together."

"Interesting." Elijah mumbles to himself. "Well, I'm going home. Need a nap." He turns around and heads back down the street waving his cane goodbye.

"I think it's time we get some food." Ace turns down another street, followed by the others. Walking towards the center of the town, the crew starts to see more and more bars, and more and more people fighting each other. Each and every bar seem to be full with people. Eventually they find one with enough room for them. "I think this place will do." They sit down, and order their food. Not long after the doors swing open, Kew and his men walk into the bar. Luffy glares at him in anger. The crew get a better look at him, noticing he has a necklace with different items attached to it. One of which being a golden tooth. He has a scar running over the bridge of his nose, and tan skin. Behind him is Jacob, his skin almost as white as an albino, with matching white hair. There is also another man with a sword strapped to his back, the hilt is facing down. He has black skin and hair. And behind them is a group of men, all of them, even Jacob and the swordsman, wearing stereotypical pirate outfits.

Kew looks around the bar, eying every single person. He stops at Ace, looks at him for a bit longer than the others, then moves on. "Alright," He gets everybody in the bars attention. "Who is the new pirate crew in town?" He looks at Ace. "Is it you?

The waiter places the crews food on the table and leaves. Ace smirks at the Kew, taking a bite of the chicken leg. "Maybe."

"Don't play games with me boy," Kew cracks his knuckles. "Or I'll kill you."

"Just like you did to that guy earlier." Ace takes a sip of his drink. "Oh, wait, that wasn't you, that was your lackey."

Jacob eyes Ace, and moves his hand over a pistol. Andon catches this and adjusts himself, putting his hand on the arm rest, pointing a finger and a thumb at Jacob. The advantages of his Devil Fruit. Cicero reaches behind to his lower back, ready to unsheathe a spear. Kew laughs, not caring about Ace's insult. "Please boy, I could have easily killed that man. He just wasn't worth my time."

"Mm hmm, sure he wasn't." Ace continues to drink his rum, not believing Kew for a second.

Annoyed that Ace doesn't believe him. "Listen here boy, I own this town!"

"Do you?" A voice from outside asks. Kew's group look behind them and immediately they all move out of the way. Behind them is a young man about the same age as Ace, he is tall, an very lean. Wearing a baggy grey shirt and pants. A sword hilt hangs from a rope he uses as a belt, but the hilt is missing the blade. He has a very relaxing nature about him, but his pale silver eyes have this sadistic look in them.

Kew looks behind and sees the man. He balls his hand into a fist to stop himself from being nervous in front of them man and his own crew. Also to prepare for any fight that could happen. "I will, once I figure out how to get past your Devil Fruit, James."

Looking behind James, Cicero sees a very tall and muscular male. He can't even see the mans shoulders. The other person Cicero can see is a woman, with a large sword on her back and a lot of knives strapped on her body. She has short wild black hair, with a ponytail. Under her left eye there are two fresh scars. She wears a necklace of animal teeth. She is wearing tribal clothing, with some armor. Shoulder pad on the left, down to her elbow. Her shirt is laced in the middle, revealing a bit of cleavage, and doesn't cover her stomach, revealing multiple scars. Her shorts have a loin cloth attached to it, adding to the tribal look. With leg wrappings around her knees, with shin guards below. Looking into her deep brown eyes, Cicero sees darkness. When she looks over at Cicero, their eyes meet. Wanting to look away Cicero finds that he can't, fearing that if he looks away first, she might kill him for disrespect. For what seems like forever, was only a few seconds, then she looks away.

James chuckles at Kew. "I'd like to see you try." Hearing knuckles cracks, James looks behind at the woman. "Nevi, calm down. No need to fight him."

"Why not?" Nevi snaps. "Just give me one minute with him, he'll be dead. It's been to long since I last fought someone. And he's the only one who can put up any kind of challenge, as shitty as he is."

"Not now." James commands.

"One day I will kill you." Nevi storms off.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you." James leaves following the angry woman. "Nevi!"

Kew stands in the middle of the bar, pissed. "Stupid woman calling me weak." Grabbing a chair he throws it across the room. "Back to the ship!" Kew stomps out of the bar, his men following him.

"That was interesting." Ace continues to eat his food.

"Did any of you guys look in that woman's eyes?" Cicero asks, shaking a bit.

"Yeah, and Elijah was right. She is a monster." Ace takes another bite. "Lets finish this and go get our supplies."

Later during the night a group of six people, dressed in pirate gear, stumble down the street with beer bottles in their hands. One of them walks in front of the others, telling them something, they all burst into laughter. A person sits on a roof top, shielded by the darkness, twirling a knife in their hand, watching the drunken men. One of the drunken men points down an alley and they all turn down it. The person stands up following the men, walking along the roof tops. Once the drunks are deep enough in the alley, the stranger jumps down, cutting them off. The drunken men jump back in surprise, wondering what just happened was for real or just their imagination. Looking closely they see a figure standing in the dark. As the figure walks closer, they see it's Nevi. Fear enters their faces and they all turn to run, only to bump into a metal wall blocking their path. One of the men turn around only to be met with a knife being dug into his face. Pulling out another knife, Nevi jabs it in another mans neck. Throwing him out of the way, she pulls out another knife ready to kill the rest. On the other side of the wall is James leaning nonchalantly against it, listening to the men scream for their lives. A smile slowly creeping up on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: James Weston belongs to Raimaru13, and Nevi belongs to my friend Josh. Thanks guys for the characters. Well I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: What is this? I'll tell you what this is. This is a fan appreciation chapter. This early chapter goes out to all of you who Reviewed, Followed and Favorited. I'm really happy about all the positive reviews I get, and all the characters you submitted. This story couldn't have gone this far without you guys, and I hope you will continue to help it get even farther. Thanks again and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**P.S. I've been thinking of getting a cover picture for this story, but I don't know what to use. If you guys have an idea PM me the link or even draw one up yourself. That would appreciated.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

Feeling the heat flow through his body, Ace stands in the middle of the deck, eyes closed. A cool wind blowing against his chest. He can feel the immense flame that is his Devil Fruit, quickly dominating any coolness in his body from the breeze. He follows it as it rampages through his body. Getting a grasp of it bit by bit, Ace moves it to his hand, that he is holding out. Slowly the flame moves to his hand, igniting it. Opening his eyes, Ace tries to hold the flame, without it dispersing. After a few seconds, he holds out his other hand, trying to move the flame from one hand to another. The fire disappears from his hand, but the heat slowly starts to move through his arm. Doing his best to control it, Ace gets it to his shoulder before it gets free and surrounds his body. Ace sighs in defeat. "Son of a bitch."

Cicero looks over his shoulder, watching Ace kick the ground in frustration. He looks at Luffy, who's sitting next to him. "How long did it take you to master your powers?"

Luffy attaches a worm to the hook on his fishing rod, "Couple years," He throws the line out into the water. "But Ace is a lot stronger and smarter than me. So he'll probably figure it out soon enough."

Reeling in his line, Cicero sees that his worm is gone. Sighing, he brings it back to attach another. "All this time we've spent on the ship waiting for Ace to finish 'training', we could have bought a new table and chairs, to replace the burnt ones," He throws out his line. "And be out of here."

"And then it's off to the Grand Line!" Luffy pumps his fist in the air.

"Yes, the Grand Line. The only place to ensure our death more than this shit hole." Cicero pumps his fist in the air sarcastically. "Yay."

"Ya, but isn't your dream located in the Grand Line?"

"From what I can tell from the maps I currently have, it certainly does point to the Grand Line." Looking over his shoulder he yells. "Are we gonna get going yet?"

Ace waves him off. "Yeah, just gonna do one more try." Ace holds out his hand again, focusing on it. Andon takes his fedora off his face, looking at Ace as he practises. Getting off the lawn chair, he stretches his arms. Pointing a finger at Ace, he shoots a laser at his captains shin. "Ow, shit!" The flame in Aces hand disperses, and he grabs his leg, hopping on one foot. "What was that for?"

"Need more practise." Andon puts his fedora back on. "You should be able to control the flame and be able to have attacks go through you."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." Ace says sarcastically, rubbing his shin. "Alright, lets get going."

Luffy hops off the railing, leaning his fishing rod against the railing. Cicero gets one leg over before a hard tug on his fishing rod pulls him overboard. Crashing into the water he sees a large fish swimming away, with his rod behind it. Resurfacing he catches his breath. Looking up he sees the other looking over the railing, laughing as hard as they can. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He starts swimming to shore. "I'll meet you guys on the dock."

The others run off the ship, and head to the dock, watching and laughing, as he climbs back up. "Oh my god," Ace tries to catch his breath. "You should have seen the look on your face." Cicero stands there, waiting for the three to finish laughing. After they calm down, Ace turns and heads for town. "Alright, now lets go." Luffy and Andon follow.

"Wait," The crew looks back at Cicero. "I'm all wet."

"So, you wanted to get going, now lets go." Ace smirks, continuing into town.

"If I get sick, you're all going down with me." Cicero points at them, threatening.

"It's blistering hot out," Ace points at the other people walking around with no shirt on, like him. "You'll be fine. You'll dry off eventually."

Cicero reluctantly follows. The crew walk back into the hostile town they have come to find out is called Kaizoku Hebun. The title makes sense, the group has yet to see any type of law enforcement. With no one around to stop them, anybody can do anything. Truly a pirates haven. A few people here and there walk around, looking for any bodies that litter the streets. What surprises them the most is that people can set up shop here and run a business. With all the pirates and criminals that roam the streets, you would think that they would just take what they want and think twice about paying them. Though that would back fire quickly. If shop owners felt threatened then they could easily pack up and leave. And with nothing there to supply them, the pirates would lose this haven and have no where to retreat to. The pirates also protect the shops from any thieves, but of coarse with a price. As ironic as it sounds, pirates own this island, and protect this island.

Soon the crew find a shop that can sell them a new table and chairs. Ace turns and faces his brother. "I take it you're gonna wait outside?" Luffy nods his head. "Alright, Andon watch over him. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid."

"Hey!"

Andon nods his head. "I'll try."

Ace and Cicero walk into the store. "Shouldn't I wait outside," Cicero thumbs over his shoulder. "I'm soaked."

"Hello!" a person behind a counter greets them. "Welcome to my shop, how can I help you?"

Ace approaches the counter leaning on it. "We need a table for about ten people."

"Certainly, please follow me." The shop owner leads them to a section filled with tables.

Cicero looks at Ace in confusion. "Why such a big table?"

"It's not just gonna be the four of us." Ace points back to Luffy and Andon. "We're gonna try getting a few more people in our crew." Cicero nods his head.

Luffy sits on the ground, with Andon standing next to them leaning on the wall. The two watch as two men fight each other. A group of people standing around them with money in their hands. Some cheer for the blond guy, who is clearly winning, while the rest cheer a bald guy. When the bald guy falls into the crowd, they catch him only to throw him back to the other guy. Luffy turns his head wondering what they are doing, and why they are fighting. After turning his head to the other side, he asks. "What are they doing?"

"They are betting who will win the fight." Andon points to the crowd. "They bet a certain amount of money on one guy, and if he wins they get to keep the money they bet and get some of the money the other people bet." He points to the fighters. "The winner gets some of the money from the people who bet against him, and the loser gets nothing."

"Cool." Luffy gets up and walks to the crowd.

Andon scrunches his eyebrows. "Where are you going?"

Luffy turns to him. "To fight."

Andon holds his hand out to stop him, but stops himself. He knows that Luffy is strong, and they could probably earn some money off of this. Pushing himself off the wall, he too walks to the crowd. Luffy pushes through the crowd to the front to see the blond deal a devastating blow to the bald guy. Blood spews out of his mouth and a few teeth. The bald guy falls to the ground unconscious. A tall skinny man, with pointy ears and purple hair, walks up to him and check on him, he seems to be the man running the show. Crossing his arms the blond guys throws his arms up in the air in victory. Some people cheer, others groan. The ring master walks around with a top hat handing out money to the people who bet on him. After the bald guy is dragged away, the guy walks to the centre of the makeshift ring. "Is there anybody else who wants to fight against him" He points to the blond man standing next to him.

Luffy instantly put up his hand, "Me." Walking into the ring.

The man grins. "Someone is eager." He walks up to Luffy. "The only rule is no use of Devil Fruit powers. Otherwise you automatically lose." Luffy nods his head. "Good," The man pats his shoulder. "Alright people place your bets." He takes his top hat off and picks up another. "Black hat for Mr. Obdesky," Shaking the top hat. "Red for the new guy." Shaking a red top hat. Most of the money is placed in the black hat, while a few people placed money in the red. Andon took out some money and placed it in the red hat too. After going around the crowd, the ring master waves the two fighters to the centre. "You guys know the rule." Backing up into the crowd he shouts. "Begin!"

Obdesky throws the first punch, but Luffy easily dodges it. The blond man starts to rapidly punch at his opponent, but Luffy keeps dodging the attacks. Some of the people start to boo, yelling at him to fight back. Luffy then grabs Obdesky's fist and knees him in the gut, knocking the air out of him. He falls to his knees, holding his stomach, gasping for a breath. The whole crowd goes quiet, Andon with a grin on his face. He can see that a lot of people are having second thoughts about betting against Luffy. Finally catching his breath, Obdesky stands up on shaky legs. Kicking out, Luffy ducks under his leg, takes a step forward and connects his fist with his opponents face. The punch was strong enough to knock Obdesky to the ground head first, and do a flip, landing on his stomach. The ring master slowly walks to Obdesky, looking between him and Luffy. The only people he ever imagined capable to beat Obdesky was Kew, the new guy James and his crew. Those people he knew are monsters, but this kid took him by surprise. Bending down, he checks if Obdesky was still conscious. Not to his surprise, Obdesky was down for the count. What surprised him was that he was still breathing.

Slowly the ring master crosses his arms, indicating Luffy's win. The few people who bet on him began to cheer. Andon nods his head in satisfaction, knowing that Luffy would win. The man walks around the crowd, handing out the winnings. Andon gets his and counts how much he got, seeing that he got triple of what he bet. Handing Luffy his winnings, the man carries Obdesky out of the ring. He stands back in the ring with Luffy. "Well," He starts, not knowing what to say. "Anybody else?"

"30,000 Beli?!" Ace yells in surprise at the price the table is. Cicero looks at Ace in confusion again. He didn't know what Ace was complaining about. They have plenty of money from robbing the casino, it shouldn't be much of a problem. The again, just for the table alone that is a bit steep.

The store owner nods his head with a smile on his face. "Yep, that's the best price you'll get."

"Best price my ass. " Ace scoffs. "15,000." He offers.

"Twenty-eight." The owner counters.

"What?" Ace couldn't believe how short the salesman went. "Eighteen."

"Twenty-five and that's my final offer."

Ace crosses his arms, thinking of anyway to lower the price. He could threaten to burn the place down. Though with the prices so high the guy probably pays protection money. And that would cause an unnecessary fight. Deciding to counter once more, Ace offers. "Twenty-two."

"Twenty-three."

"Deal." Ace shakes his hand with the owner, sealing the deal. Ace has a big grin on his face, happy that he managed to lower the price. "Now for chairs." He turns to Cicero. "How many did we need?"

"Four." Cicero follows the owner.

"I though it was three?" Aces holds a hand to his chin.

Cicero shakes his head. "Three are completely burnt, while one is only partially burnt."

"Oh," Ace catches up to the owner. "So how much are the chairs?"

"Cheap ones." Cicero includes.

Andon watches as the third person to go up against Luffy, falls to the ground unconscious. The ring master, who Andon has now learned, goes by the name The Host.

Apparently he travels around the world, looking for pirate safe havens, bringing a group of people with him to fight others, making some money in the process. Obdesky was his strongest fighter and with him out of the question, The Host has been asking if any of the locals can take down Luffy. "Can anybody take this boy down?" Host yells out excitedly. "Anybody?"

"I can." A voice behind the crowd catches everyone's attention.

A few people move out of the way to show two people men in pirate gear. Andon hears everybody whispering about how Luffy has no chance against someone from Kew's crew. They both are wearing the same clothes and look almost identical, but one has red hair and the other has tan. The one with red hair says. "Are you sure about that brother?" He glares over at Luffy, licking his lips. "He looks strong."

Andon can tell he isn't serious. He's trying to insult Luffy and make him mad, but Andon knows that won't work. Luffy is not the type to easily get insulted by picking on his strength. "Dead sure, brother." He starts to takes off his weapons and coat handing them to his twin.

Andon leans over to the man next to him. "Who are they?"

"They are the Kashi brothers, from Captain Kew's crew. Together they have a bounty of 14 million. The one with red hair is Yankashi, and the other one is Yinkashi. That boy doesn't stand a chance. They are dangerous alone, but together they are deadly. He should be happy that both aren't fighting." The man explains.

Andon nods his head, actually wondering if Luffy will be okay. With nothing but pants and an undershirt, Yinkashi walks to the centre of the ring, the crowd takes a few steps back. He looks down at Luffy, standing a head taller. A small grin on his face, compared to the wicked one his brother is wearing. Host does his routine of collecting money before he walks up to the two fighters. The betting was pretty even. "I take it you know the one rule?" Yin nods his head. Running back to the crowd, Host yells. "Begin!"

Yin jumps in the air, kicking out with both feet. He hits Luffy in the face, sending him backwards. The crowd gasps, no one has been able to touch Luffy till now. Doing a back flip he lands on his feet. Luffy does a few rolls on the ground before stopping himself. On his hands and knees, Luffy looks up at his opponent, seeing him already charging. Yin goes to kick upward, but Luffy flips to the side, avoiding the attack. Landing on his feet, Luffy goes for a punch only for his fist to be met with Yin's fist. Both fighters start to push on the others, trying to overpower them. Luffy soon starts to push Yin's fist back, but stops, removing his fist. With all his weight pushing down on Luffy, Yin quickly falls forward. Luffy does a back flip, kicking Yin in the jaw. Using his other foot, Luffy kicks his opponent back to the centre of the ring.

Yin lands with a hard thud, causing dirt to go up in the air. Landing on his feet, Luffy jumps forward. Twisting in the air Luffy slams his heel into his opponents gut. Causing a large crater and an even bigger plume of dirt. Walking out of the cloud of dirt, Luffy waits for it to settle to see if his opponent can still fight. The whole crowd is silent, not having seen such a good fight since James beating the previous second. None of them expected a kid to be such an excellent fighter, especially against someone from Kew's crew. As the dirt clears, the crowd can see Yin standing in the crater holding his stomach, breathing heavily with blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Yan licks his lips, bouncing in place wanting to join in the fight. Yin wipes the blood away, trying to calm his breath. "You're good kid, but don't think you've won." He takes a fighting position.

Andon could tell that Yin was and wasn't lying. Luffy could still win this, but they don't know exactly how strong Yin is. Luffy also takes a fighting position. The two stare at each other for a few moments, before they charge at each other. Yin goes for a kick, but Luffy ducks under it just like he did against Obdesky. Going in for the punch, Yin puts up a hand to block his face. Stopping, Luffy does a front flip, surprising the whole crowd, who thought he was going for the same finisher he used on Obdesky. Bringing his foot down on Yin, Luffy slams it to the ground, as hard as he could. This time it a bigger plume of dirt goes up in the air. The crowd stands in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the market a few blocks away, as they all wait for someone to walk out of the cloud. Soon enough Luffy walks out, dusting himself and his hat off. Everyone's attention goes from the straw hat boy to the dust cloud as it starts to disappear, revealing an unconscious Yin. Host quickly runs over to Yin to check on him. Crossing his arms the whole crowd cheers, all of them forgetting about the bet. Host picks up his black hat and hands out the money to the people who won the bet and gives Luffy his winnings. "I think now is a good time to close up shop." Host puts on his black hat top, gathers his things and walks away.

Luffy walks up to Andon handing him his winnings. "How much did we get?"

Yan walks up to his brother, his wicked smile gone. "B-brother?" Sinking to his knees, he holds his unconscious twin in his arms. He looks over at Luffy. "This isn't over." He seethes, picking up his brother and running away.

"What's his problem?" Luffy scratches his head. "And who was he?"

Andon shakes his head as he continues counting. Ace walks out of the store with a large table in his hands. Cicero behind carrying four chairs. The captain pokes his head from behind the table, seeing the two craters and the large wad of money in Andons hands. "What the hell happened?"

Andon thumbs over his shoulder. "Luffy."

Ace looks at Luffy in confusion. "Some guys were fighting each other and people were placing bets, so I decided to join in. The first few were easy, but the last guy was a bit tough."

"That last guy was from Kew's crew." Andon finishes counting the money.

"Huh," Ace didn't know what to say. He told Andon to not let Luffy do something stupid, but for once Luffy's stupidity ended up being a good thing. "How much?"

"Two hundred thousand."

Ace and Cicero's jaws drop to the ground. "Well that definitely replaces the money we spent on these. And it covers lunch."

"Yeah, I'm hungry now." Luffy's stomach growls.

"Alright, you guys go to the bar we went to yesterday, while Cicero and I takes these back to the ship." Ace walks in the direction of the harbour.

"Finally I can get changed."

"See ya there." Andon waves, heading in the other direction with Luffy.

"Think we should try doing one of those again?" Ace asks.

"Try what again?" Cicero adjusts the chairs in his arms.

"Those fights that Luffy was just in." Ace spins around a person. "Excuse me."

"Maybe, I don't care." Cicero blows some of his hair out of his eyes. "As long as I don't fight."

"Why not? We'd get a lot of money."

"I'm not that much of a fighter." Cicero spins around a person.

"Yeah, but your good." Ace adjusts the table. "Not just anybody could have taken on that swordsman back in the casino."

Cicero thought back at the fight and began wondering if the guy was still alive or not. After digging his spear into him like he did, he's not so sure. "I guess you're right." Hearing a thud, Cicero looks over at Ace and notices he fell asleep on the upside down table. He slumps his shoulders. "Why me?"

Walking to the bar they ate lunch at yesterday, Luffy notices a woman with a large sword and recognizes her from yesterday. Andon recognizes her too, but decides to ignore her, knowing she will be nothing but trouble. Especially now, because she looks angry. Seeing her from behind they can see that her sword is very beat up and doesn't look like it could cut anything. They are close enough to hear her talking about something. "Stupid fucking James. Once I figure out a way past that bastards Devil Fruit, I'm gonna kill him. Prove once and for all I'm not weak. Then I can go home." She punches a wall in frustration, leaving a big hole.

The two look at each other, Andon with worry on his face. Luffy with a big grin on his face. Andon shakes his face, not knowing and not wanting to know, what Luffy has in mind. Looking back they see that's she is gone now, no where to be seen. Andon sighs in relief. Taking a step forward, he stops being cut off by Kew. Behind him they see Jacob and Yankashi. They both can see that he is very angry. Lifting up a foot, Kew kicks Andon in the chest sending him flying back. Andon crashes on the ground, rolling a few feet. Stopping he picks himself off the ground, holding his chest. Luffy looks from Andon to Kew, anger in his eyes. Putting his foot down, Kew says. "You're both dead!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I know I did writing it. Thanks again for everything and please review.  
><strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: And another out on time. I think this might be a record. Was banging my head on the ending of this chapter. Trying to figure out how to transition it to the next chapter. Luckily I figured it out. It's not the best, but what can ya do? Doctor position is still open, and will be for a while. Also on up coming arcs, I'll be asking for bad guys, just to fill in some 1v1s. I'll tell you if they need to be pirates or marines and other details when that comes up. Enough of me rambling, enjoy the chapter and review!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

Cicero sits on one of the chairs, starring at his predicament. Ace lies on their new upturned table, sleeping. This is one of those moments where Cicero hates his captains narcolepsy. On the ship Ace is usually not doing anything important, so they just leave him where ever he lands. Once he fell a sleep doing the dishes. They were all scared that he stabbed himself, but was lucky that he didn't. The other annoying time was the fight against the casino owner, Hiroshi. And of coarse now. The thought of just leaving Ace behind and dropping off the chairs, and then come back to get him has crossed his mind a few times, but he couldn't do that. He knows that Ace could handle himself, but probably not right now. Even though the captain has nothing valuable on him to take, Cicero doesn't want to risk losing the table. Finally going with an idea, he gets off the chairs and moves Ace off the table, flipping it over. Looking down at his captain, the navigator does his best to pick up Ace and put him on the table. After a few minutes, he finally gets the sleeping man on the table. Stacking the chairs on top, Cicero takes a good look at the table wondering how the hell is he gonna get it to the ship. Pushing the table, Cicero starts to make his way to the ship.

Finally reaching the ship, Cicero is covered in sweat. Sitting on the ground, he tries to calm his breathing. "Guess I'm taking a shower too." Taking the chairs and Ace off the table, Cicero takes that up to the ship first. Then the chairs, then Ace. Heading to the sleeping quarters he takes his damp clothes off, grabs a towel and heads for the showers.

Outside Ace wakes up to the smell of burning wood. In a panic he sits up straight, looking around for the fire he might of accidentally caused. Not seeing a one, he notices that he's on the deck of Infinity, next to the table and chairs. Still smelling the burning wood, he looks around for smoke. Finally seeing it he walks up to the front of the ship to get a better look. He can't tell who the ship belongs to, but with the group of people on the dock dressed in pirate gear, throwing buckets of water on the ship effortlessly, Ace can take a guess of who it belongs to. He can also see the dock if full of injured and dead pirates. Who ever did this wants Kew's attention.

Hearing a door creak, Ace sees Cicero walk out of the sleeping quarters, in dry clothes. "You might want to grab your spears,"

"Why?"

Ace points to Kew's burning ship. "As a precaution." Nodding his head, Cicero heads back in.

Luffy jumps at Kew, ready to throw a punch. His opponent catches his fist, the action catches Luffy off guard. He knew that Kew would be strong, but he thought he was some push over. This slight pause gives Kew enough time to knee Luffy in the gut, causing saliva to spew out. Grabbing his opponents collar, Kew throws him behind. Where Yankashi grabs Luffy by the face, slamming him to the ground. A wicked smile splits his face, "Told you this wasn't over." Licking his lips. "You'll pay for what you did to my brother." He proceeds to rapidly punch Luffy in the face.

Andon stands, wondering how he is suppose to fight Kew and Jacob at the same time. If he could keep his distance, then he might have a chance. Noticing the crowd building around them, he realizes he can't use most of his attacks. He's gonna have to use precision and be careful not to hit anybody. Kew turns away from Andon, facing Luffy as he gets beat by Yankashi. "Kill him."

Jacob nods his head. "Understood." Taking out at pistol, he points it at Andon.

Raising his hand, Andon points a finger at the gun. Jacob raises an eyebrow, wondering what his opponent is trying to do. The tip of his finger turns blue, firing a shot towards the gun. The laser goes into the barrel of the gun, causing the weapon to explode in Jacobs hand. Covering his face from the wooden shrapnel with his other hand, Jacob looks at the other one. Splinters and blood cover it. Hearing the small explosion Kew turns around, wondering what just happened. Doing so gave Andon a clear view of Yankashi. Pointing two fingers at the crazy man, firing two shots at him. The two lasers hit Yan in the chest, taking him by surprise, knocking him off Luffy. Rolling backwards, Luffy stands up on his feet, nodding his thanks to Andon. The sharpshooter nods back.

Cracking his knuckles, ready to fight. Yan gets back on his feet, holding his chest. "Interesting," Kew looks over at Luffy. "You have a Devil Fruit user on your team."

Luffy grins. "More than one. Gomu Gomu no," Jumping in the air, Luffy twists his body, stretching out his leg like a roundhouse kick, slamming it into Kew's side. "Whip." Kew flies to the side, crashing into the ground. "I'm a rubber man and Andon is a laser man."

Standing up Kew holds onto his side. He never realized the kid was this strong. It doesn't surprise him considering that he managed to take down Yinkashi. If he isn't careful the straw hat kid might take him down too. Charging at Luffy, he raises his fist. Seeing the attack coming, Luffy ducks under the fist. Hoping for that, Kew brings his hand back, grabbing the back of Luffy's head, bringing it to his knee. Coming from behind, Yan grabs Luffy in a full-nelson. Kew uses this advantage to start dealing body shots to Luffy.

With his left hand hurt, Jacob would have a hard time properly holding his rifle. Deciding to ditch he idea of a long range fight, he charges at Andon. Not wanting to hurt anyone from the crowd, Andon takes shots at Jacobs feet, and try to trip him up. Dodging all of the shots, Jacob reaches Andon getting ready to throw a punch. Expecting this he puts his hands near his hips, looking like he just did a quick draw. "Reza Reza no Danmaku." A rapid fire of lasers shot from his fingers, all of them hitting Jacob on his torso.

After a few seconds of the attack, Andon stops. Jacob falls to his knees, blooding oozing out of some of the wounds. _Damn, I fell for his trap._ Falling forward, he puts a hand out stopping himself. Jacob struggles to get back on his feet, refusing to lose. Facing Andon face to face, he punches him in the face. Andon reels back, not expecting Jacob to still be strong enough to continue fighting. Punching Jacob back in the face, Andon kicks out his opponents leg, causing him to fall to the ground. Jacob attemps to get back on his feet, but Andon puts his foot on him, keeping him down. "I suggest you stay down."

"Why not-" Jacob coughs up blood. "Kill me?"

Andon looks down at his opponent, and then looks up at Luffy's, watching his fight. "No need, you're defeated."

Kew stops his barrage of punches, breathing heavily. "Had enough boy?"

Luffy grins. "Nope." Lifting his legs up, he plants his feet together. "Gomu Gomu no Yari." Stretching his legs out, his feet hit Kews stomach, like a spear. Kew goes flying back, tumbling into the ground. Stretching his neck, throwing his head forward, Luffy slings it back, "Bell." Slamming it into Yan's head, causing him to release his hold on Luffy. His hat, slowly falling to the ground in front of him.

Bursting through the crowd, comes one of Kew's men. Breathing heavily he yells. "Captain, you need to see this!"

Standing up he glances over at his subordinate, wiping away some blood from his mouth. "What is it?"

"Six of our men have been found dead."

Kews eyes go wide. "What?" Looking over at Luffy he growls. "This isn't over!" Following his crew member, Kew pushes his way through the crowd. "Yan, get Jacob." Yankashi, slowly rises to his feet, stumbling over to Jacob. Andon removes his foot, allowing him to pick up his crew mate. The two follow after their captain.

Luffy looks over at Andon, picking up his hat. "I think lunch has been delayed long enough." Andon smiles shaking his head. The two walk through the dispersing crowd.

Sitting up on a rooftop, twirling at knife in her hand, Nevi watches the two Spade members walk down the street, but her attention is more focused on Luffy. A big grin on her face. Sheathing her knife, she jumps down to the street, following the two. "Nevi."

Hearing her name she stops and turns around. Looking up, she sees her fellow crew mate. "Erik, what the hell do you want?"

"Captain has a job for you." His deep voice nearly echoing through the street.

"Fuck him." Nevi turns and saunters away.

A large hand grabs her shoulder, turning her around. The other grabs her by the face. Erik's hands are large enough to cover her mouth and nose. He leans in to her, squeezing. "Do not insult the captain." Nevi stares in Erik's eyes. Grabbing his wrist she too starts to squeeze. The two stare at each other, trying to outdo the other.

Eventually Erik lets go. Nevi pulls on his arm, bringing Erik's face to hers. Grabbing him by the throat. "Two things." Everybody stares at how the much smaller woman is overpowering the much larger man. "One, I don't give a fuck what the captain or you have to say. Two, do NOT threaten me and think you can get away with it." She throws the large man to the ground, walking away.

Rubbing his throat, Erik coughs. "He wants you to acquire a prisoner, killing all who get in your way." He sputters, knowing that last part would get her attention.

Stopping in her tracks, she looks back, over her shoulder, at Erik with a grin. Shes been anxious to fight someone for a while now. It took everything she had to not jump in the fight between the straw hat kid and Kew "Continue."

Kew reaches the alley his subordinate lead him too. There he meets his swordsman, Randy. Looking at the six bodies, he immediately gets an idea of who did this. Kneeling down he inspects the bodies. All were slashed or stabbed by a knife, adding more to his suspicions. Either James let this happen and is trying to get him to attack in a blind rage, or Nevi got loose and these were the poor bastards in her way. Or maybe somebody else is attacking his crew. Either way, Kew is not letting this slide. Standing he faces his men. "Back to the ship. We're gonna gather everybody and I want this entire town searched. We will find out who did this."

Randy points behind his captain. "Sir, there's smoke by the harbour."

Looking behind his eyes go wide. All of them run down the street, leaving the bodies. If things are going as they think they are, then Kew will be short of a lot of manpower for the fight to come. Reaching the ship, the remainder of the Collector Pirates, watch as their home burns. The main mast snaps in half, falling into the water. Kew looks around the dock, most of his men are dead, that's when the stench of burning flesh reaches his nose. The few that are still alive try to put the flames out, but with no success. "What the hell happened?"

One of his men finally notices them and speaks. "Nevi, sir. She came here killing almost all of us. She took Yinkashi before setting the ship on fire."

Anger starts building up in Kew. For some reason James wanted a fight, and this was his way to signal that. Well if it's a fight he wants, then it's a fight he's gonna get. "Leave the ship," His men stop throwing water on it and look at him. "James wants a fight and so he's gonna get one." Turning down the dock he waves his men to follow. "Lets go!"

Reaching the warehouse that James uses as his base, Kew can see James subordinates standing outside, none too surprised that Kew and what remains of his crew, coming to them. One of them presses a button, opening two sliding doors. Another steps in front of Kew, holding his hand up. "Only you and your officers. The rest stay out here."

Glaring at the man Kew says. "Yan, Jacob, Randy, you guys are with me." The three nod their heads, following their captain into the building.

Inside they see James sitting on a chair, on top of large crates. To his sides are, a seated Nevi and Erik standing, holding Yinkashi. The two sliding doors close behind them and they instantly hear gun fire and swords clashing outside. Kew tries his best to suppress how nervous he is. He fought James before when the kid arrived on the island. It didn't take long before Kew lost, and James didn't even use his Devil Fruit power, which Kew didn't even know he had until James fought the previous second. He knows how strong his opponent is and that only one crew is making it out alive. "Alright I'm here. Now what do you want?"

James stands up. "A little warm up, before we head to the Grand Line."

Kew is now angry. James thought he was nothing but practise. A punching bag to warm up on before the real fight. He has to keep his cool though. If he gets angry then James will definitely win this fight. "Then why do all this, why not come straight to us?"

Holding his arm out to the side, Erik gives James, Yinkashi. Grabbing him by the neck, James holds him in front of himself. Letting Kew and the others to see his beaten face. "Cause I thought this would be more fun." Grabbing the sword hilt with his free hand, he unhooks it from the rope belt. Holding it out, the four down below watch as a metallic liquid oozes out of James hand, going down to the hilt. "Ferro Ferro no Blade." The liquid takes form of a katana, hardening.

Placing the weapon at the base of Yinkashi's spine, James pushes up. The sword goes through his spine, up in his torso, coming out through his chest. Yanking the blade free of Yinkashi, his body falls down the crates onto the cold hard cement, a pool of blood surrounding him. Yankashi watches in horror as his brother lies on the floor, lifeless. It's one thing to watch him get knocked unconscious, but to see him be killed in front of his eyes, on the same day, terrifies him. Taking a wobbly step forward, Yan stutters his brothers name, tears streaming down his face. Looking up at James still standing in the same position, as the metallic liquid retreats back in his hand. Seeing James, Yan's sadness is quickly taken over by anger as he charges at the person who murdered his brother. "You bastard!" James watches as Yankashi charges him in a blind rage. Yan jump in the air, getting ready to punch the bastard. "You took away my brother!"

Erik soon jumps off the crates, right towards Yankashi. Slamming the palm of his hand into the person who just threatened his captain. Landing on the ground, the muscular man slams his opponents head into the floor, causing debris to fly into the air. Lowering his head to Yan, Erik says. "Allow me to re-unite the two of you." Raising his fist, he brings in down on the already unconscious man, causing blood and more debris to fly up.

Clenching his wounded hand, blood dripping on the floor, Jacob ignores the pain he is in. Seeing two of his comrades die in front of him, he decides he has to attack himself. Slinging his rifle off his shoulder, he points the weapon at James. "Die asshole!"

Kew holds out his hand. "No, stop!" Jacob fires the gun anyways. James doesn't move from his position. The bullet goes through him, metallic liquid splattering everywhere, leaving a hole in his head. The hole fills up with more of the liquid, repairing James face.

James chuckles at the futile attempt of killing him. Hooking the hilt back to the rope belt, he points to the swordsman. "Nevi you can deal with him, Kew is mine."

Sighing, Nevi stands up. "Why can't I fight them all?" She draws her beat up sword, resting it on her shoulder. "I could easily take them all."

James glares at Nevi in irritation. "You have your orders, now follow them." he says in anger.

Jumping down from the crate, Nevi faces the darker skined swordsman. He draws his sword, ready to fight. "I should warn you, I'm one of the best swordsman in East Blue. Second only to that bounty hunter."

Nevi cracks her neck, with a bored expression. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me a good fight."

Randy charges at Nevi, swinging his sword down with both hands. Still bored, Nevi blocks the attack, using one arm. Randy pushes down, trying to over power Nevi. Yawning, Nevi swings her sword, knocking Randy back. Stopping himself from falling over, Randy attacks Nevi again, with all his strength. Using only one hand, Nevi blocks all of her opponents attacks. Annoyed that her opponent is weak, Nevi blocks one more attack, before slamming the tip of her sword into Randy's gut. With the blade being dull it doesn't go through, but some blood trickles from the great sword. Pulling it out, she hits her opponent in the leg. The sound of the bone snapping, and he's screams of pain is music to her ears. Falling to the ground, Randy grabs hold of his leg, screaming in agony. Raising her weapon over her head, Nevi gives a wicked grin, before bringing the blade on her opponents head, crushing it. Blood and brain matter spray the floor, some hitting her face.

Erik walks over to Jacob, dodging all the bullets fired at him. Fearing his immense strength, Jacobs walks backwards. Trying to keep his distance from the hulk of a man. Stopping, he properly aims his rifle at Erik, "Why don't you just stand still?" Pulling the trigger he hears a click instead of a bang. Fear overtaking him, Jacob keeps pulling the trigger, hoping that a bullet will come out.

Erik walks up to the gunman, stopping when the barrel of the rifle pokes him. "Certainly." Grabbing the rifle, he starts to squeeze it. Soon enough, the rifle breaks in half from the pressure. Looking up Jacob stares in the eyes of the man that's about to kill him. Holding his arms out to the side, Erik brings his hands together in a clap, with Jacobs head in between. Blood spews out of Jacobs mouth, hitting Erik's torso, his body falling to the ground, lifeless.

James jumps down from the crate, walking towards Kew. "Guess this is it."

"Guess it is." Kew raises his fists.

"Only one of us will walk out of here alive." James stops at arms length from Kew.

"I plan that on being me." Kew takes a step forward, punching at James.

James spins, putting his back to Kew. Taking at step back, putting himself up against his opponent. Grabbing Kew's outstretched arm, James brings in down on his shoulder, while going up on his toes, breaking the arm. Bending down, he pulls on the broken arm, bringing Kew onto his back. "Ferro Ferro no Impalement." Several metallic spikes come out of James back, going right through Kew, blood shooting up in the air. Retracting the spikes, James lets Kew fall to the ground, blood falling down like rain. Looking down at his opponent, watching him take in shallow breathes. Kneeling down, James puts his hand on his opponents face. "Looks like your plan failed." Liquid metal oozes onto Kew's face, covering it. The liquid forms a sphere, hardening.

Standing back up James looks to his right, seeing Erik standing over the dead gunman. Looking to his left, he sees the dead swordsman, but no Nevi. Hearing the double doors slide open he turns to the entrance. "Nevi, what the hell are you doing?"

The same grin still plastered on her face, she walks out of the warehouse. "I still have the urge," Pushing past Jame's crew and walking over the dead bodies of Kew's subordinates, Nevi walks into town, bloody sword in hand, death on her mind. "And I know who might be able to satisfy it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope the ending was good. Now to try and figure out how to make the next chapter long like the last few. Trying to keep this rhythm, and no go back to having short chapters like in the beginning. I think for a Christmas present I'll go back and fix them. And then on Christmas I'll re-release them. Again I hoped you all liked it and please review. **


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: And another early chapter. Kinda trying to make up for what I missed back in September and August. Also I have an account on FictionPress and I have a one-shot up there. The accounts name is Kavetroll007sh. If you want to check it out you can. Good thing for proof reading, because I had quite a few mistakes. That would have been embarrassing. Enough of my rambling, go enjoy the chapter and please review.**

* * *

><p><strong> Chapter 24<strong>

Walking down the street, Ace and Cicero notice as some of the shop owners are packing up, closing their shops. The two look at each other wondering what's going on. What is causing these shop owners, who run their business by selling to pirates, to close up like a pirate crew just came in to town. They can't help but overhear people talking like something terrible is about to happen. Seeing the old man they were talking to the day before, Ace runs up to him. "Hey, Elijah," Getting the old mans attention. "What's going on?"

Elijah faces Ace, he doesn't look as worried as most of the people on the island. "A fight broke out between Kew and James."

The news is not overly surprising to the two Spade members. "It doesn't seem like too much of a big deal." Ace raises his eyebrow.

"It is," The old man walks down the street, waving them to follow. "This island survives by having these three strongest pirates of East Blue here. If one leaves then the other two can still easily keep, some sense, of order."

"And with Krieg gone, and the other two fighting each other, you lose that sense of balance." Cicero says, tying his bandana around his head.

"Correct, and that's bad business." Elijah stops, facing the two. Starring at Cicero, he squints his eyes. "You look like a damn housemaid with the way that bandana is tied around your head."

Cicero glares back at the old man. Ace puts his hand to his mouth, trying his best not to laugh. The navigator glares at his captain. "Sorry," Ace bursts out laughing. "But you do." Elijah hits Ace in the shin with his cane. "Ow," Ace hops on one foot, rubbing his shin.

"Pay attention." Elijah barks. "Listen, we all know that James is gonna win this fight. And with Kew gone, that means others are going to fight each other for his position. Heck, James might even declare himself as the strongest." Elijah continues to walk.

"So, why are you telling us this?" Ace asks, Cicero too is wondering why the old man is telling them. There is obviously more to this than just getting the two up to date.

Elijah stops again. Facing the two he takes a deep breath. "I'm asking if you guys would declare yourselves the third strongest. Second if James takes first." Both boys eyes go wide. Why would he want them to do that? He doesn't even know their strength. "It's only temporary. Until Krieg gets back."

Ace waves his hands in front of himself. "No,no,no,no. Sorry, but we can't do that."

"Yeah," Cicero very much agrees with Ace. "I mean who knows how long Krieg is gonna take in the Grand Line. We wanna go there ourselves." As much as he doesn't want to go to the Grand Line, Cicero still has his dream to accomplish.

Nodding his head, Elijah turns to the house next to them, sitting on the chair in front of it. "Well, it's not like I can force ya. All I ask is you try not to fight James." He sets his feet up on a little stool. "Might make things worse here."

"Thanks for the offer anyways." Ace and Cicero continue walking, heading to the bar for lunch. "And we'll try to stay away from him."

Walking in to the bar, Luffy and Andon see that it's completely empty, except for the barkeep. Not long after Kew left them, the streets started to empty. Businesses closing up. Sitting at the bar, the man says. "You two must either be crazy, or vying for one of the top spots here."

Confusion crosses both boys face. Not understand what the man means. "What do you mean?" Andon asks, taking his fedora off. Setting it on the bar. "Does it have to do with most of the stores closing?"

The barkeep leans against the wall, folding his arms. "Rumour has it that Kew and James are fighting. That there leaves two open spots for the three strongest. Pirates from all across East Blue are going to come here for those positions. This place is gonna be a battle ground." Pushing himself off, he asks. "So what do you guys want?"

Placing their order, the barkeep goes back to the kitchen. Soon enough they get their food, and they start eating. Not long after Ace and Cicero walk in. "Thanks for waiting for us." Cicero complains sitting next to Luffy. Ace sits next to Andon, taking his hat off too. They place their orders.

After getting their food, Ace asks. "You guys hear about what's going on?" The two nod their heads. "Good, then you guys are ready for the fight that's coming?" Andon and Luffy again nod their heads.

Cicero spews his food out of his mouth. "What?"

"Think about it," Ace points a piece of meat at Cicero. "If James wants to keep his title, he's gonna want to take out the people willing to fight him." Ace puts the food in his mouth, before Luffy could grab it. "So he's obviously gonna come after us."

Cicero looks at Ace like he's even more of an idiot then usually is. "You're not making very much sense." He points to the door. "Not too long ago you just rejected the idea of staying here, and getting the title of strongest of East Blue."

Ace gulps down his drink, handing the mug back to the barkeep. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we are staying when we beat them."

Cicero wonders where Ace gets these ideas in his head. "So why would we bother fighting them anyways?" Throwing his arms up in the air, not noticing Luffy is stealing his food.

Ace turns to his brother. "What do you think about this Luffy?" The youngest of the crew says something, but is unintelligible from all the food in his mouth. Ace guess that Luffy agrees with him when his younger brother pumps his hand in the air, holding a piece of meat. He then turns to Andon.

The sharpshooter swallows his food before saying. "You're captain, your decision."

Ace looks at Cicero with a smug smile on his face. The navigators jaw drops. "You're all insane, I've probably said that a hundred times now, but you're all insane."

"Kinda have to agree with him." The barkeep points to Cicero.

Finishing their meals, the crews walks out to a completely empty street. Walking down to the docks, Ace and Andon taking the lead, with Cicero lagging in the back. The navigator mumbles to himself, wondering why they would have to fight at all. Hoping they would reach the dock without running into anybody. Hearing heavy footfalls like someone is running, the crew looks to the side. Seeing nothing but a building, they wonder if it's just someone on the other side, rushing home. Slowly they get louder, and two knives come flying down from the roof. The two blades head straight for Luffy. Quickly diving to the side, dodging the deadly weapons, Luffy lands next to Cicero who is drawing his spear, the partisan. A figure jumps from the roof, holding a large sword over their head, heading straight for Luffy and Cicero. Jumping out of the way, grabbing Cicero's collar, dragging him with Luffy. The figure hits the ground, slamming the sword into the ground, causing a huge dust cloud. Ace and Andon watch the dust cloud, waiting for who or what attacked them to come out. Andon has his fingers pointed, ready to shoot whoever. On the other side Luffy and Cicero also wait for the attacker to appear. Cicero cursing his bad luck, as his hopes of getting to the dock safely slowly goes down the drain.

Four knives fly out of the dust, two for each group. Luffy back flips over the one heading to him, while Cicero simply ducks. On the other side, Andon shoots two lasers, stopping the knives. Hearing a slow clap from behind, Ace and Andon slowly turn around to see James and the big muscular man. Both of them with blood stains on their clothes. "So you are the unlucky folks she has chosen."

Looking behind, Ace sees Nevi standing in a pile of rubble from where her sword hit. He can't see her face, because she is facing Luffy and Cicero, but he can tell she has some sort of grin. "You can have them," Nevi pulls her sword from the ground, pointing it at Luffy and Cicero. "These two are mine."

"Fair enough," Jame points to Andon. "Erik, you can deal with him."

Cracking his knuckles, Erik moves towards Andon. "Understood captain." Andon points two fingers at Erik, causing the muscular man to tilt his head. Firing two lasers they hit the tall man in the chest. Looking down at the two holes in his shirt, Erik scrunches up his eyebrows. "That stung."

Clasping his hands together, having both fingers pointing at Erik, Andon says. "Well you know what they say, float like a butterfly, sting like a surgical laser." Both tips of his finger glow blue. "Reza Reza no Shigi." A thin beam shoots out, piercing through Erik's chest.

Taking a step forward, Erik stops himself from falling. Cough up a bit of blood, he spits it on the ground, wiping away whats left. Smiling at Andon, blood staining his teeth, he chuckles. "Is that all you got?" He sprints towards the sharpshooter, quickly closing the distance.

Pausing for a second at the large mans speed, Andon goes for the same attack. "Reza Reza no," Erik hits his hands out of the way, "Shigi." The attack misses and goes right through a house. Raising his hand, Erik brings it down on Andon. The punch causes Andon to fly backwards, his fedora flying off. Crashing into the ground, Andon lay there is pain. Coughing up blood, he spits it out.

Hearing a grunt from his opponent, he looks over and sees the large man jumping in the air. Seeing the pounds of muscle coming back down towards him, Andon rolls out of the way. Erik slam both feet into the ground, causing a dust cloud. Getting back on his feet, Andon puts both hands at his hips, like he just did a quick draw, and starts to do a rapid fire of lasers at Erik. "Reza Reza no Danmaku." Erik puts up his arms, blocking his face.

Looking behind, Ace wonders if the others will be okay. He knows Luffy can hold his own, it's Cicero that he is most worried for. With surprising speed, Nevi jumps towards Luffy, slamming the tip of her sword in his face. Ace's eyes go wide, knowing that when it came to weapons, Luffy was weakest to swords. "Luffy!" The rubber boy goes flying backwards, tumbling across the ground, his hat falling off. Stopping himself, Luffy looks up in anger towards Nevi.

Ace sighs, seeing that Luffy is okay. Finally seeing the swordsman's blade he can see it's dull, and not sharp enough to cut Luffy. Raising his hand, James decides to take advantage of his opponents mistake of looking away. A metallic ball forming around his hand. "You should spend more time worrying about yourself." The ball hardens. "Ferro Ferro no Cannon." The ball shoots towards Ace at an alarming rate. Ace looks back in time to see the ball hit him in the gut. The ball hits the captain with enough power to move him back a few feet. Crashing into the ground, Ace pushes the metal ball off his stomach. Standing up, he picks up the metallic object. Holding it in one hand. James raises an eyebrow. "I see you're strong enough to not only with stand the attack, but lift the ball itself."

Ace tosses it up in the air, catching it. He has no idea where James got this thing, but he's willing to return it. Smirking, he throws the ball. "Here, have it back." It doesn't move as fast as it did when James launched it, but moves at a good speed. The sphere hits James, splattering around him. Ace's eyes nearly bug out of their sockets. The metallic liquid surrounding James torso absorbs back into him. "Well, this is interesting."

James smirks, holding his arms out. "I ate the Ferro Ferro no Mi. I can turn myself in liquid metal, earning me the nickname 'Metal Man' and a bounty of 19 million." He points all four of his fingers at Ace. "You can not hope to beat me. Ferro Ferro no Bullets." Small metallic spheres shoot out of each finger, flying towards Ace.

Not moving, Ace concentrates to let the spheres go right through him. Four holes appear in his chest, slowly filling up with fire, healing him. James raises an eyebrow. "Your not the only logia here buddy." Ace smirks, pushing his hat off, letting it rest on his back.

Cicero takes a stab at Nevi, but the woman blocks the attack with her sword. Knowing he won't be able to overpower her, Cicero pulls away and tries again. Nevi blocks the attack, again. Nevi glares at Cicero in annoyance. "You're weak. Go away." Ignoring her words, Cicero tries for a rapid attack, aiming at different spots. Nevi blocks all the attacks, boredom seeping in, she knocks the spear out of the way.

Cicero is shocked as how easy it was for the woman to knock away his spear, exposing him completely. Taking a step forward, Nevi punches Cicero in the face. The hard impact causes Cicero to fly backwards, landing on his ass. Raising her sword, Nevi moves to Cicero, ready to bring it down on this weakling. Seeing this, Luffy jumps forward. Stretching out his leg, he calls. "Gomu Gomu no Whip." His leg goes over Cicero's head, hitting Nevi in the gut. The attack and strength takes her by surprise, sending her flying backwards. Retracting his leg back, Luffy does a front flip, stretching his leg again. Completing the flip, he brings his heel down on Nevi. "Axe." The attack causes debris to fly up in the air.

Standing up, Cicero watches as the woman lays in the ground, wondering if she is down for good. "Is that it?" Looking at Luffy and his battle ready position, he can tell he just asked a stupid question.

A grin slowly splits Nevi's face, as she starts to laugh. "Hahaha, finally!" She stands up, holding her up her hands, she screams. "Finally, a good fight!" She looks at Luffy, hope in her eyes. "Please don't disappoint me."

Cicero watches the crazy woman, thinking she needs to check herself in to an insane asylum. Nevi dashes towards Luffy at an amazing speed, same with Luffy. Nevi throws some knives at the rubber man, who easily dodges them. As they get closer, she swings her sword. Luffy puts up his foot, stopping the blade. Nevi's strength manages to push Luffy back. Stretching out his arm, Luffy punches Nevi in the gut. Pushing her sword away, he jumps off his other leg and kicks out at the woman. Nevi grabs his foot, blocking the attack. Swinging her sword up, she brings it back down on Luffy. Hitting the ground, the rubber man is nearly imbedded in the ground. Bringing her sword back up, Nevi goes to bring it back down on her opponent. Using his free leg, Luffy kicks out Nevi's leg, causing her to fall. Using this time, Luffy breaks free from the ground. Jumping away from the woman, as she stands back up.

Cicero stares in amazement, jaw dropping to the ground. "They are on a whole different level than me."

Nevi laughs some more, enjoying her fight against the boy. She hasn't had this much fun in a fight since she left her island. Her fight against James was okay, but only because she couldn't hit him. That's what annoyed her the most. Being unable to wipe away that smug look from his face. She never believed it when the people from her island said she was weak. Not until she left and faced against many different opponents. Wanting to prove she wasn't weak, she joined all who beat her in combat. Thinking that will help her find better fights, and prove she is not weak. She raises her blade, drawing two more knives. Starting with this boy, she will start her path to redemption.

Ace charges towards his opponent. James charges too. Throwing a punch, Aces fist goes through James head, causing metallic liquid to spray everywhere. James body keeps moving, slamming his own fist into Ace's gut. The force of the impact causes Ace to stop. His legs lifting off the ground. Following through with his punch, James sends his opponent flying back. Ace crashes into the ground, rolling backwards. Stopping himself, he looks up at James, as he slowly reforms his head. Ace couldn't understand why James could hit him. He concentrated on his torso to allow the punch to go right through, but James still hit him. When his mouth reappears, the metal man says. "Seems like you still have a lot to learn about being a logia."

"Yeah, I do." Ace stands up, holding his stomach. His punch was much stronger than that metallic ball. "Mind giving me a few pointers?"

James chuckles. "Okay." He walks up to Ace. "A logia is the most deadly Devil Fruit. As easily it makes a person powerful, it can easily destroy the user. You can feel it rampaging inside of you right?" Ace nods his head. He wondered if it was just his Devil Fruit that caused that, but it seems all logia's feel it. "If you don't control it, the Devil Fruit itself will consume you. Turning you into what you are."

Ace didn't know if what he says is true. He's never met another logia user till now, and James could be saying all this to get him paranoid. Yet at the same time, it could be true. "What else?"

"The Devil Fruit is as strong as it's user. If you're not strong enough to block an attack," James grabs his sword hilt, swinging it up, cutting Ace across the chest. Jumping back, Ace instinctively puts his hand to the wound. Soon enough the flames heal his wound. "You won't be able to defend against it properly."

Ace smirks. "Good to know." Drawing the dagger on his belt.

"If you want to beat me, you'll have to learn very quick." James swings his sword like a whip. "Ferro Ferro no Whip." The blade becomes loose and swings towards Ace.

Holding up his blade, Ace blocks the attack. The metallic whip wrapping itself around the weapon. "Good thing I'm a quick learner."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The explanation of the logia powers is something I made up. Had to think of something so Ace could get hurt, without having all the enemies having Haki. Otherwise it would be very one sided and boring fights. And we can't have that now can we? No, we cant. Hoped you guys enjoyed and please leave a review of what you thought.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Sorry for being late, but this chapter was a bitch to complete. Also 100 reviews! Yay! Thanks for reviewing everybody. Just to let everybody know I need a Shichibukai. Figured if that Ace was asked to become one, then there was an open spot. Nothing else comes to mind so enough of me rambling and read the chapter and please review.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

Holding up his dagger, Ace blocks James attack. A metallic whip wrapping itself around the blade. "Good thing I'm a quick learner." Ace smirks. He has to figure a way to get past James Devil Fruit power. Something as powerful as a logia has to have a weakness to counter it. Ace just has to figure out what. Until then he's just gonna have to keep fighting, and hope that wearing him down will lower his defenses.

Charging forward, Ace readies a punch. James retracts the whip, hardening it back to a sword. Holding it up, the metal man prepares to slash his opponent. Using most of his strength, Ace leaps forward. With his gut open wide, James watches as Ace's fist goes through his abdomen, leaving a gaping hole. Turning mid-air, Ace aims his blade at James head. For a brief second, Ace sees worry come across his opponents face. James brings his sword down, blocking the smaller weapon. Seeing the hole his fist made is almost closed, Ace does another spin, kicking out James legs. The fire mans eyes go wide in surprise. He actually managed to connect a hit. An idea comes to Ace, thinking he has found a way past his opponents defenses. Landing with a thud, James watches as the dagger comes down onto his face. The small blade goes through the metal mans head, spraying the liquid metal, sticking to the ground. Raising his other fist, Ace brings it down on James. The fist connects, causing the ground to crack underneath. Grinning, Ace uses this advantage to kick James away from him, down the street. Chuckling, Ace pulls the dagger out of the ground, he has found that weakness. "I think I get it now,"

Standing up, it's James turn to hold his stomach. "Get what, exactly?" The metallic sword retreats back to his arm, as he hooks the hilt back to his belt.

Ace puts his dagger away too. "It's like you said, 'the Devil Fruit is as strong as it's user', but in this case the Devil Fruit itself can only take some much damage before the person is hit." Ace walks towards his opponent. "And with the minor difference in our strength, all I have to do is hit you once, and then it's fair game." Ace dashes towards his enemy.

"Not exactly 'fair'," James charges to his opponent. "I know how to use my powers." Both boys meet each other, both ready to strike. "You on the other hand, don't."

"Oh well." Ace smirks. Both fists collide into the other. The two have a small tug of war, trying to overpower the other. Ace's fist eventually breaks through James, heading straight to his face.

With his opponents attack hitting him, James reels back. Raising his foot, he kicks Ace in the stomach, causing him to stumble back. Both combatants slide backwards, each of them digging their heels into the ground, trying to slow themselves down. Stopping, they charge back at the other. Ace kicks out, but James jumps in the air, dodging the attack. Extending his leg, James foot connects with Ace's chin. Swinging his other leg around, James slams it into the side of Ace's head, sending him tumbling across the ground. Landing, James jumps towards his opponent. Appearing over Ace, James strikes out with his fist. Ace puts up his arms, blocking the attack. Landing on top of Ace, James releases a multitude of attacks on his enemy. His arms up, Ace does his best to block most of the attacks. "You say you are a fast learner," James gets a punch through Ace's defense, hitting him in the face. "Yet you can't even use your Devil Fruit abilities." Another punch hits him in the face, causing Ace to spit out blood.

"_Damn it, he's right," _Ace tries to block the flurry of attacks, but they keep coming through. _"I need to concentrate." _Feeling the rampaging flame inside him, Ace tries his best to control it. With time not on his side right now, Ace forcefully grabs the flame, sending it right to his head.

James next attack goes right through Ace, punching the ground, cracking it underneath. "What?" His eyes go wide, not expecting his opponent to learn this quick. _"He must of had it a lot longer than I thought."_ Feeling an immense heat, James looks down to see Ace's fist in flames.

Seeing his opponent pause, Ace uses this opportunity to push himself up. His head quickly reforms back to normal, "Take this!" Ace punches James with his flaming fist, in the gut.

James doubles over from the attack, blood and saliva coming out of his mouth, spraying Ace. He can feel the flames burning his insides. Ace starts to push even harder, trying to get the metal man off of him. Eventually a stream of fire shoots from Ace's fist, sending his opponent flying. James soars across the street, slamming through a wall, into an empty shop. He rolls across the floor, his guts feeling like they are on fire. When the pain becomes bearable, he gets up and walks outside, crawling through the hole. He can still feel the heat in the air. "I told you I'm a fast learner." Ace wipes the blood and saliva off his face.

Wiping away blood from his chin, James cracks his back. "I see, time to get serious." Raising one hand, and holding the other behind his back, he charges towards Ace. "Ferro Ferro no Bullets." Four small spheres form on the tip of his fingers, shooting towards Ace. Concentrating, Ace lets them go right through his body. Bringing his other hand from behind, a large ball covering James fist. "Cannon." The ball shoots towards Ace at an alarming rate.

Ace tries to jump to the side, but the ball clips his head, causing him to lose his footing and stumble backwards to the ground. James keep running towards Ace. Seeing his opponent, the fire man jumps back up. Raising both hands, James fires the small spheres from his fingers. Putting his arms up to block, only two go through him while the rest pummel his body. Forming a large ball on each hand, James shoots those too. They slam into Ace's body, causing him to grit his teeth, pushing him back. Taking a step forward, Ace stops himself from falling, coughing up blood. Tackling Ace, James flips him over his back. Falling back himself, James lands on top of his opponent, knocking the breath out of Ace, more blood spewing out. "Ferro Ferro no," Large spikes shoot out of James back, into Ace and the ground. "Impalement!"

Standing up James turns to look at Ace's body. He expects to see a bloody corpse, large holes filling his body. Instead he sees a live and well Ace with holes all over his body, but with flames protecting the wounds. Ace stands back up as the flames heal his body. His hat, sitting on his back, starts to fix itself with the help of the flames. "Well, if you are getting this serious," He cracks his knuckles. "Then I guess I will, too."

Jumping forward, Ace slams his fist into his opponents head. The shock of Ace still being alive keeps James from being able to change form. Many can claim to be fast learners, but Ace is definitely one. Grabbing James head, Ace pushes down as he knees him in the stomach. Getting a fist full of hair, Ace lifts his opponents head. He starts to deliver strong fast punches to James face.

James realizes he is now in a predicament and he has to get his concentration back. Grabbing Ace's hand, he rips his head from his opponents grasp, drops liquid metal fly everywhere. James punches Ace in the face himself. Delivering a jab to the fire mans side, cracking a few ribs, following with a uppercut to the stomach.

Saliva flies out of Ace's mouth from the impact. Grabbing James shirt, Ace headbutts his opponent. The attack goes through the logia user. Expecting this, Ace knees James in the gut again. Reaching over, he grabs the metal mans belt. Lifting him up, Ace slams him to the ground. James stops himself, cracking the ground, sending debris up in the air. Grabbing Ace's pants and hair, he lifts him up in the air. James brings him back down, slamming his opponents stomach on his knee.

Rolling to the ground, Ace gasps for air. That last attack knocked the wind out of him. He regains it shortly, only to have it gone again as James fist slams into his chest. Ace grabs his opponents ankle, squeezing. The ankle explodes into liquid metal. The fire user then shoves his hand up into James leg. Grabbing that raging inferno that is his Devil Fruit, Ace ignites his hand. The searing pain causes James to fall to the ground, gritting his teeth. Using his other leg James kicks Ace, trying to get him away. With each and every kick, Ace increases the flame. Unable to handle the pain any longer James starts to crawl away. Following, the flames start to get bigger and bigger until a stream of fire shoots through James leg, destroying almost the entire leg. Unable to hold it in, James screams in pain. He holds what ever remains of his leg as it slowly starts to reform.

Ace gets up, standing over his opponent. He starts to deliver swift kicks to James body, cracking a few ribs of his own. Blocking the attack, the metal man rolls away. Panting, he slowly stands back up. His leg still reforming. "You really do learn quick." He needs to buy time till his leg heal.

"I told you." Ace takes a step forward. He sees James hobble back a bit. He's trying to keep his distance till his leg heals. Ace isn't going to let that happen.

Jumping towards his opponent, Ace throws a punch. Blocking the attack, James retaliates with his own. Grabbing the fist, Ace swings his leg into the metal mans side, cracking more ribs and breaking those that are already cracked. _"I'm going to pay for this, but I need to do it."_ James pushes off his good leg, tackling Ace. Landing on the ground, the metal man turns his whole body into liquid metal, surrounding Ace. "Ferro Ferro no," Even in this liquified form Ace can still hear him. "Grappler." James quickly takes back shape, trapping Ace inside his metallic body. "Now suffocate."

Andon continues to rapidly fire at Erik. Standing up, the hulk of a man runs through the barrage, knocking away the gunman hands. Raising his fist, he brings in to Andon's face, causing a loud crack. The sharpshooter stumbles back, blood oozing out of nose. Putting his hand to it, Andon can feel that it's broken. Erik leaps forward, punching Andon in the gut, causing him to tumble across the ground. With his legs trembling, Andon has a hard time standing back up. Erik grabs him by his blue hair, lifting him to eye level. Erik punches him again in the gut, watching Andon swing in his grasp. The muscular man continues the assault, breaking ribs. Andon swings back and forth in Erik's grasp, almost lifeless. Bringing his knees in, Andon kicks out with both feet, into Erik's chest. The attack does nothing to the muscular man, only earning him another punch to the gut. "You are one stubborn little man." Andon slightly moves his thumb, doing his best to aim for his opponents face. Taking a guess he fires a laser, hitting the big man in the eye. Erik releases his hold on Andon, covering his eye. "Son of a bitch," Some blood starts to ooze between his fingers. "That hurt you little bastard!"

Andon lands on his feet, wobbling a bit, planting them to the ground. Putting his hands together like a prayer, his palms starts to glow blue. "This is gonna hurt you even more, Reza Reza no," Andon puts his hands out, facing Erik. "Burasuto!" An explosion engulfs Erik, kicking up a lot of dust and debris. "Hopefully." Andon mutters.

Andon watches the dust cloud, hoping that Erik won't come out. When seeing a large hand reach out from the cloud, and grasps Andon by the face, all hope drains away. The hand picks him up, slamming him into the ground. The other hand grabs him by the ankle, lifting him up. Erik starts to spin, going faster and faster. Andon tries to get a clear shot at Erik, but the spinning makes it too hard for him to see properly. Eventually Erik lets go, sending Andon flying towards a building. He quickly puts his arms over his head before crashing through the wall. With the dust gone from his spinning, a now shirtless Erik, walks towards the building housing his opponent. Cuts and bruises cover his body, blood still oozing from his eye. Reaching the hole, he sees a dizzy Andon stumbling to stand up. Going inside, he grabs the sharpshooter, standing him up right. Turning around, Andon looks up at the large man. Breathing heavily, Erik says. "You were right, that one did hurt." He raises his foot. "Time for payback."

Putting his arms up, Andon gets a heavy kick from Erik, sending him flying back into the wall, imbedding him. Andon raises his hand and starts to shoot at Erik. Charging through the shots, Erik slams his shoulder into Andon, going through the wall. Grabbing the blue haired man, Erik uses him as a shield to go through another wall. Back outside, Erik throws Andon across the empty street. Tumbling across the ground, Andon stops himself. Slowly standing back up, Andon's body is covered in bruises, he even spits out some more blood. Wiping his chin, he cracks his neck. "Come on, I'm not done yet."

Erik slowly walks to his enemy, shrugging off all shots done by Andon. "There is a major flaw in your Devil Fruit." Erik grabs Andons hands, crushing them in his. Lifting him up, he leans in. "The more strength you lose, the weaker your shots becomes." Erik's eyes go wide feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he sees a spear head sticking through his gut. Looking over his shoulder, he sees Cicero.

Cicero takes out his boar spear, sticking it in the large mans thigh. Erik falls to a knee, dropping Andon. Quickly rolling away, Andon struggles to stand back up. Cicero leans in, grinning. "Hey, what's up?"

Nevi's blunt sword slams into Luffy's face. Swinging it like a baseball bat, the rubber boy goes flying back. Standing back up, Luffy dusts himself off. Nevi throws her head back, laughing. Doing so causes her to see Cicero attack from behind. The navigator replaced his partisan with his fauchard. Bringing the slashing weapon down, he aims for her back. Nevi pulls out a knife, turning around, she blocks the attack with her sword. Throwing the knife, she aims for Cicero's leg. Jumping over the blade, Cicero adjusts his spear for a upward swing. Using one arm for the attack, he reaches over for his kamayari/boar spear hybrid. With the fauchard hitting Nevi's blade, Cicero lands on the broadsword, Bringing down his hybrid.

Seeing the spear come down, Nevi grins. Drawing another knife, she stabs out. The blade hits the wooden pieces sticking out of Cicero's spear. With Nevi's strength she easily stops the spear, millimeters from her face. Letting go of the fauchard, Cicero uses both hands to push the spear down. Nevi chuckles at the futile attempt of Cicero trying to kill her. "You will never be able to kill me," She moves her head forward, resting the blade of the spear on her head. "Weakling."

Luffy slams his leg into Nevi's side, causing her to nearly fold to the side. The tip of the spear cuts her forehead. "Don't forget there is two of us here." Luffy brings his other leg around, kicking Nevi in the side of the head.

Nevi tumbles across the ground. She sticks her sword into the ground, stopping herself. She looks up at the two, licking the blood that is streaming from her forehead. "Oh, I didn't forget." She jumps towards the duo. "Now bring it!"

Luffy jumps towards her, while Cicero puts away his hybrid, picking up the fauchard. The strongest of the three fighters connect fists. Nevi swings her blade, hitting Luffy away. Spinning with the momentum, she goes fully around before taking a swing at Cicero. Ducking the spear man slashes up at her back. Nevi takes out another knife, blocking the attack. _"Damn it, how many of those does she have?"_

Stopping, Nevi plants her sword into the ground, blocking Luffy's stretching foot from connecting with her. Turning around, she faces Cicero. Grabbing him by the neck, she squeezes. Cicero tries to slash at her, but she blocks every attack with the knife. Cicero looks Nevi in the eye and no longer sees the madness. Now she seems to be in a different world. Her eye twitches to the side, hearing Luffy call out an attack. She moves the navigator in her hands at the last second. Luffy's fist connects with Cicero's back. If wasn't for Nevi's hold on his neck, he would be screaming. Luffy retracts his arm. "Shit." He mutters under his breath.

Nevi starts to laugh again, the madness back in her eyes. "Hahaha, priceless!" She throws Cicero towards the rubber boy.

Luffy helps Cicero up. "You okay?" He starts to dust off his friend.

Rubbing his neck, Cicero uses his spear to push Luffy's hand away. "I'm fine." Cicero takes a step back, seeing Nevi already in front of him. He feels like he just said that line too soon.

Chuckling, Nevi swings her sword up. The tip just barely missing her target. Seeing this, Cicero moves his spear to block the attack. The sword stops for a second before smashing right through the weapon. Cicero's eyes go wide at seeing one of his spears break in his hands. He always tries his best to take care of them, repairing them if they get damaged. None of them though have ever broken. The shock was so much he almost didn't notice the blade inching itself closer to his head. He tries to move out of the way, but is too slow. The tip of the broadsword hits him in the chin, blood spewing out of his mouth.

Nevi brings her sword down, blocking another attack by Luffy. Raising her foot she slams it into the gut of the spear man. Cicero flies back, tumbling through the ground. Luffy goes around the sword, punching Nevi in the side. Following up with a jab to her back. Grabbing her by the face, he throws the woman back, away from Cicero. Nevi rolls along the ground, too busy laughing to stop herself.

Looking over at Cicero, Luffy can see the shock in his eyes. The navigator lays on the ground, griping the two pieces of what remains of one of his spears. He walks over to him. Picking up Cicero, Luffy gets him up on his feet. "Listen," Cicero tares his eyes from his spear to Luffy's. "I know it sucks having something you cherish damaged." The navigators eyes flicker up to his hat. "But you have to move on, you can't sit there wallowing in sadness. You have to keep a relatively clear mind." Cicero nods his head, knowing that Luffy understands what he is going through. The rubber boy pats him on the shoulder. "Good now why don't you let me handle her. Go, help Andon."

Cicero looks over Luffy's shoulder, seeing Andon smash through a building. He nods his head. "Alright," He puts the two parts of his spears away. "But you're gonna have to cover me."

Luffy nods his head. "Deal."

Taking out his partisan, Cicero runs ahead. Luffy following. Nevi charges at the two, still laughing. Swinging her sword, Cicero ducks by sliding underneath it. Cicero gets back up, continuing to run towards Andon. Luffy slams his fist into Nevi's face, knocking her to the ground. Using the momentum, Nevi does a backflip. She swings her sword, causing Luffy to duck. Swinging it back, she hits Luffy. Tumbling along the ground, Luffy stops himself. Looking up he sees Nevi chasing after Cicero, quickly gaining on him. Luffy runs after Nevi himself, stretching his arms back, as far as they will go. At his top speed he catches up to Nevi. "Gomu Gomu no," Nevi looks over at Luffy. Stopping, she brings her sword up. Luffy stops too, slinging his arms back to him. "Bazooka!" Luffy's palms slam into Nevi's gut, causing saliva and blood to spew out. The attack causes her to fly back slamming into a building, smashing through the wall. Looking down the street, Luffy sees Cicero crawl through the hole Andon went through.

Hearing Nevi laughing, Luffy sees her stepping out of the hole. Her chin is covered in blood. She spits out blood, taking out another knife. "This is the best fight ever." She smiles showing her now blood red teeth.

* * *

><p>AN: My friends is going to hate me for what happened to Cicero. I had a lot of mistakes this chapter too. My mind seems to work faster than my hands. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please review.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but it's hard to concentrate on writing when you are sick. Also procrastination. I was gonna have this with all three fights, but I needed to get something out, so it's only these two. Also I started a poll. Go check it out. It's basically asking if I should keep Luffy in this story or have him go back home and start his own adventure. And make this more about Ace and his crew. Anyways enough of me rambling, go read and please review.**

* * *

><p><strong> Chapter 26<strong>

Using all his strength, Erik turns around, backhanding Cicero. The spear man flies back, crashing into the ground. The muscular man pulls the spear out of his leg, allowing him to stand up. Throwing it away, he reaches behind pulling the other spear out of his torso. This one proving to be more difficult, causing him to cough up some blood. Breathing heavily he grips the spear in his hand, the sound of wood cracking easily heard. With every breath he takes, Erik can feel a sharp pain in his gut. His body has taken serious damage from this fight, none of which he expected. He thought that these guys would be easy, like Kew and his men. None of that came to be. With the amount of blood he is losing, he has to finish this soon, otherwise he is going to die.

Cicero stands back up, rubbing his chin, trying to soothe the pain. He was not expecting the big brute to hit him, let alone stand back up. He hopes that not everybody they end up fighting are monsters. Otherwise this is going to be a very painful adventure. With one spear broken, and two out of his reach. He only has two left. He reaches for his kamayari. Hearing the wood cracking in the big mans grasp, Cicero is not letting another of his spears get broken. One was enough. Two is unacceptable. He looks over at Andon, who is in bad condition. That fact that he is still standing surprises him. "Cicero, watch out!" Andon points in front of the navigator.

Looking ahead, Cicero sees his spear, the partisan, flying towards him. Diving to side, he attempts to dodge the projectile. Moving a bit to late, the spear pierces his shoulder. The force of the spear causes him to fall back. Missing his opportunity, Erik still sees another to finish off the new comer. With him on the ground he is vulnerable. Ignoring the pain in his leg, Erik takes off running. Hearing the thundering steps, Cicero pulls the spear out.

With his friend on the ground, and his opponent running to finish him off, Andon quickly thinks of an idea. Cicero saved his life, now it's his turn to save his comrade. Pushing the pain that courses through his body to the back of his mind, the marksman runs towards Erik. Gaining on him, Andon slams his foot into the giant mans thigh. Erik screams in agony, as pressure is applied to his injury. This causes him to stumble, and fall to the ground. Andon points his finger at the large man, shooting him in the back. The shot is powerful enough to cause Erik to grit his teeth and before the gunman fires another shot, he rolls away. Hearing footsteps, he looks up and sees Cicero charging at him, spear in hand. Putting his hands on the ground by his head, he rolls back, using his hands to push himself back up. Turning around, he uses one hand to push the spear away, while the other slams into Cicero's face.

Flying back, Cicero hits the ground, rolling backwards. Standing back up mid-roll, he watches as a thin laser beam goes right through Erik's side. The attack causes him to cough up blood. He takes a step back, stopping himself from falling. He rapidly blinks his eyes, shaking his head, trying to stay conscious. None of it working he grabs his thigh, using the pain to keep himself awake. Andon's hands falls back to his side, exhaustion hitting him hard. He doesn't know how much stamina he has left, but it won't last long. He has to finish this fight now. Charging at his opponent, Andon raises his fist. Readying his spear, Cicero follows.

Seeing the two come at him, Erik readies himself. Blocking the punch the gunman threw at him, the muscular man sends his own. Punching Andon in the head, blood and saliva flying from his mouth. Using his other hand, he pushes the blue haired man away. Seeing Cicero coming, he blocks the spear, punching him too in the head. The spear man reels back, being pushed to the ground by Erik's foot. Seeing a fist in the corner of his eye, he is caught by surprise when it connects with his gut. The pain shoots up his spine, causing his vision to blur. If it wasn't for the excruciating pain right now, he would be unconscious. Grabbing the fist, he squeezes. Straightening the arm out, Erik punches the forearm with all his strength, causing it to break. Andon screams from the shock and pain. The large man keeps pushing on the broken bone, causing Andon to scream more, until the bone itself pierces through the skin. Blood sprays Cicero as he watches his friend fall to the ground, holding his broken arm. He can barely tear his eyes from the protruding bone. Unable to imagine the pain his friend is going through. The worst pain he had felt was a boar tusk going through his leg.

Erik stares down at his opponent. Now is the perfect time to finish him off. He will end the gunman and then deal with the annoying spear man. Then quickly head back to the ship and get patched up. Raising his foot, he plans on stomping down on Andon's head, crushing it. At least he would put him out of his misery. "Hey, asshole!" Cicero yells.

Erik looks up to see the navigators spear pierce his shin. The large man grits his teeth, trying not to cough up anymore blood. Cicero pushes the spear with all his might, putting his whole body into it. Erik hops back trying not to fall, but ends up toppling over anyways. Cicero pulls his spear out as he watches the muscular man land with a thud. There was no way in hell he was going to let his foot go down. Not on his watch.

Erik holds his shin, feeling the blood ooze through his fingers. Twice has this bastard stab him in the same leg. He is not letting him off easy. Standing back up, his one leg wobbly and covered in blood, Erik glares at Cicero. Stepping over Andon, Erik grabs Cicero's spear as he tries to stab him again. Pulling it out of his grip, Erik throws the spear away. Cicero goes for his last one, but Erik's fist hits him in the gut, causing him to lift off the ground. Landing, the spear man takes a step to stop himself from fall. He goes to punch Erik himself, but the big man blocks the attack and delivers punch after punch to Cicero. The muscular man pummels the navigator, not giving him time to do anything. Not even letting him fall to the ground. "Change in plans," Erik knees Cicero in the stomach, slamming his elbow into his back. "I was going to kill the gunman first, then you," He punches Cicero in the head, blood spewing out, he goes to fall until Erik punches him again causing him to go the other way. "But you pissed me off too many times." Erik stops when he feels something hit his back. Cicero lands on his ass, looking around like he's lost.

Turning around, the large man eyes go wide seeing Andon standing back up. His broken and bloody arm hanging limp at his side. Blood dripping from his fingers. Breathing heavily, he gives a weak grin. Even more angry, he forgets about Cicero and charges for Andon. The gunman fires a few more shots. At first they miss, but the last one hits. Erik stumbles from the attack, nearly falling over. His body is at it's limit. He has to finish this now. Using all his strength, he lunges forward, grabbing Andon's hand, crushing it in his grip. Lifting up the marksman, he punches him in the chest, causing him to swing. Planting his feet together, they start to glow inside his shoes. "Reza Reza no," With no other option, Andon will have to use his feet for the first time in combat. Swinging back, the gunman plants his feet on Erik's chest. "Burasuto!"

The explosion causes both fighters to fly backwards. Andon crashes into the ground, gritting his teeth from the pain in his arm. Erik flies over Cicero, crashing in a empty store. The spear man sits on the ground, looking back and forth between the two, wondering what just happened. Standing up, he goes to check on Erik. Looking into the building, he can see the large man laying on the ground, not moving. His chest is burnt from the explosion, with smoke rising from it. Cicero can't tell if he is dead or unconscious. Hearing someone groan behind him, he looks across the street and sees Andon standing back up. "Holy shit man, you can still stand?" Cicero's eyes are wide, not expecting him to get back up.

Andon stumbles forward, his shoes and most of his pants nearly destroyed by the explosion. His feet too are blackened. "What's his status?" He nods to the building Erik is in.

"Him?" Cicero thumbs over his shoulder. "Down for good."

The gunman slowly nods his head. "Good." He whispers, as he falls to the ground.

"Oh, shit." Cicero rushes over his friends' side. He checks for a pulse and sighs in relief when he feels one. Seeing the broken arm reminds him that Andon is not out of danger yet. Putting his good arm over his shoulder, Cicero lifts him off the ground. "Come on, lets get you to a doctor." He carries his friend down the street, even leaving some of his spears behind. As long as Luffy and Ace are still here they will look for them. Hoping they will get his spears.

James starts cackling, victory close to being his. With Ace trapped inside him, unable to breath. It will not be long till his opponent is dead. Ace has proven to be one of the toughest opponents James has fought in a long time. For someone who is new to their Devil Fruit power, he proved to be a formidable foe.

Unable to breath, see, or hear, Ace tries to move his arms and legs. Even that proves useless. Not knowing exactly what James did, Ace realizes he doesn't have much time before he will die. He has to do something and do it now. Thinking back to when he stuck his hand up James leg, this is basically the same situation. Except now Ace has to do it on a bigger scale. He has to ignite his whole body. Concentrating, he feels the raging inferno rampaging through his body. Grabbing a hold of it, he starts to expand it across his whole. Quickly he can feel the heat rising, but it's not going to be enough. He has to make it unbearable. He has to melt metal.

Feeling the heat build up inside him, worry starts to replace his sense of victory. He knew this would be a huge risk, but in order to finish the fight quickly, he had to do this. He starts to pace around, sweat building up all over his body. He feels like the heat from a burn is coming out of him everywhere. With every second the heat becomes more and more unbearable, but he has to persevere. He can not allow a newbie to beat him. He has a bounty of 19 million. He can't lose, not in East Blue. Eventually the heat causes him to stumble and fall to a knee. He grits his teeth, trying to bear the pain. His insides feel like he drank oil and then ate a lit match. He clutches his chest, gasping for air. He falls to the ground, rolling around. _"Why hasn't the bastard died yet?" _The fact that Ace is still alive eludes him, but it shouldn't be any longer before he does.

Inside Ace can feel his lungs burning from the lack of air. Even his strength is diminishing. He keeps raising the temperature, but nothing has happened yet. He has to do something quick, otherwise he will be done for. Grabbing his Devil Fruit power, he pulls it into his chest, he does his best to squeeze it and conform it to a ball.

Feeling most of the heat gone, James wonders if Ace finally died. Though still feeling something there, he begins to doubt that. Being unable to conform his power anymore, Ace releases it. The result is a powerful explosion of fire, sending bits and pieces of liquid metal flying everywhere. Ace falls to his hands and knees, the ground burnt all around him. Coughing up some of the liquid metal, the fire man takes a deep breath of air, refilling his lungs. He sits down, catching his breath and regaining his strength. Happy that his idea had worked. He watches the little bits of liquid metal move around the street, gathering at one spot. Knowing full well that his opponent is not defeated yet, he is weak from that attack. Though he needs to regain his strength before attacking.

James slowly reforms himself. He was not expecting such an attack from Ace. He was hoping it would be smooth going once Ace was trapped inside of him. Looks like it's going to be the hard way now. Both combatants charge at the other, ready to pummel the other. They strike each other in the face, Ace spinning with the momentum, getting himself behind James. Grabbing the metal mans shoulder, Ace pulls him back as he slams his knee into his opponents lower back. James grits his teeth from the attack. He pulls himself from the fire mans grasp, turning around, using his leg to sweep his opponent's. Using one arm, Ace stops himself. James kicks his opponent in the gut, sending him down the street. Tumbling, Ace sticks his hand into the ground, stopping himself. Leaping towards James he slams his fist into the metal mans stomach, following it with a uppercut. Taking a step back, James stops from falling. He swings his leg around, hitting Ace in the side. Jumping up James uses his other leg to hit Ace's head. Blood flies out of the fire mans mouth.

Ace's feet take off the ground as he falls to the side. Putting his hands out, he saves himself, doing a cartwheel. Landing he leaps at his opponent, flames covering his fist. Connecting the attack with James chin, causing blood to splatter on the ground. Stumbling from the attack, James does his best to keeps his eyes focused. Ace follows the attack with a kick to the gut, streams of fire following the leg. James takes a few steps, regaining his balance. He has no idea how Ace's attacks are getting more powerful, but it has to do something with those flames. He can still feel the heat on his chin from the punch, not to mention his gut now. He can't let Ace hit him any longer. He has to finish this. Tackling the fire man he carries him across the street, slamming him into a food stand. He starts to repeatedly punch Ace in the side. Any injuries the two have suffered before have healed by now, from their logia powers. James knows though that with their weakened state that it will take a while for any injury to heal now.

Ace can hear his ribs cracking from the assault, and he has to stop it. He starts pounding his elbow into James back, hoping to get him off. With that not working, he starts to knee him. Feeling a few ribs break, Ace grits his teeth, some blood escaping through them. James is getting the upper hand, and Ace can't let this happen. If he is to survive in the Grand Line, and make a name for himself, he has to surpass this. There will be much tougher enemies than James and he can't lose here. Raising his fist, he brings it down on the metal mans back, igniting it on the way. Whether it was his strength or the heat from the flames, either way James stops his attack, screaming in pain. Ace knees his opponent in the gut, grabbing him by the hair. Lifting his head up he punches the metal man across the face, sending him across the street. Pulling himself from the stand, Ace yanks out a piece of wood in his back. Throwing it away, he raises his fists, the one still ignited. James staggers to his feet, blood dripping from his chin. Roaring he charges towards Ace, refusing to lose to an amateur. Ace charges too, refusing to lose at all. James swings his fist, which Ace ducks underneath easily. His opponent is now attacking wildly, desperate for the win. _"Once you become desperate, lose your focus, you've already lost."_ Ace slams his flaming fist into James stomach, causing the metal man to cough up blood. "Hiken!" Ace calls out, causing a large stream of fire to explode from his fist, engulfing his opponent. The stream of fire carries James through a building into the other street, destroying the building.

Falling to his knees, Ace tries to calm his heavy breathing. The attack he just did took a lot out of him. From what he can tell James is not getting up after that devastation, the metal man could be dead. Looking down the street, he can see Luffy and Nevi still fighting. Who he doesn't see is Andon and Cicero. Noticing a gaping hole in another building, he goes to check it out. Struggling to stand up, Ace uses the buildings for support. Reaching the hole, he feels something hit his foot. Looking down he sees Andon's fedora. Picking it up he sets it on top his head, walking into the building. Seeing it's a store he grabs a apple to eat while he walks through the other holes to the other side of the street. While eating his apple, he looks at the empty street. He sees a few of Cicero's spears, with the navigator not around, Ace picks them up. He looks around again, wondering where the other two are. Noticing another hole in a different building, Ace walks over. On the way he sees a trail of blood leading down the street. In fact there is quite a bit of blood in the area. Reaching the hole, seeing what's inside brings a smile to the fire mans face. Seeing that the big man, Erik, laying on the floor either unconscious or dead, which Ace did not care for either, makes him happy. Then that blood trail must belong to his crew.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In case people couldn't tell, the word of the day is finish. Especially in the beginning. Next up is the conclusion of Luffy vs Nevi. Who will win? Thanks for reading, please review and check out the poll. The decision will be made before the crew enters the Grand Line.  
><strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Good news everyone! I got accepted into the Canadian Armed Forces! YAY! Unfortunately that means this story will be on hiatus, as of Jan 12th. That sucks. I'm gonna try and get Louge Town done for you guys at least. Also, I have decided on whether or not Luffy is staying or going home. I'm just going to keep the poll up to see what others think. Nothing else comes to mind so, read and review please.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27<strong>

Nevi wipes off the blood on her chin, and her teeth, grinning. This straw hat kid just keeps making this fight more and more fun. She grabs another knife strapped to her body. Checking herself, she realizes she is running low, only a few left. As much as she wants to continue it, she has to end this fight. Charging towards Luffy, she readies to swing her sword. The rubber boy charges at her, fists ready. Nevi swings her broadsword at her opponents head. Luffy slides under it, doing a limbo under the knife too. He kicks out Nevi's feet causing her to tumble. The swordsman lands flat on her face. Luffy stands back up. Facing Nevi he sends his foot up in the air, "Gomu Gomu no," bringing it back down. "Stamp."

Nevi rolls out of the way. The foot crashes into the ground, causing a dust cloud. Using the cover to hide her actions, Nevi stabs at the ground with her knife, hoping to hit Luffy's foot. After the dust clears she sees that his foot is not even there. Looking up Nevi sees the rubber boy in the air, over top of her, about to punch her. Bringing her sword in front of her, Nevi blocks the attack. She swings her knife at his arm, cutting it as he jumps away. Grabbing another knife, she throws the two at her opponent, following after them. Luffy jumps through the knifes. Nevi uses this opportunity to uppercut him with her sword. Bringing it back down, she imbeds' his head into the ground. Luffy kicks out with his feet, spearing nevi in the gut, causing her to fly back.

Luffy plants his hands and feet on the ground, trying to get his head free from the ground. When he started this adventure he knew opponents would be tough, but this woman in unbelievable. He kinda wants her on the crew. They do need a swordsman. Finally getting his head free, he looks around for Nevi. He sees her picking up nearby knives, putting them back in their respective sheathes. "Oi!" Luffy yells, getting her attention. "Wanna join my crew?" Nevi looks at him puzzled. "Well, technically, it's not my crew it's my brothers, but I'm working on making it mine."

The swordsman scrunches her eyebrows together. She never had anybody ask her to be on their crew, she always asked to join. Only because that crew was stronger than the one she was on. Not sure what to say she asks. "Why?"

"You're strong and we need a swordsman." Luffy bluntly puts it out.

She's not one for conversation, unless it somehow involves fighting. "If you can beat me," She pulls out a knife. "I'll think on it."

Luffy grins, raising his fists. "Awesome."

The two charge at each other. Nevi throws he knife at the rubber boy, causing him to jump up. Luffy stretches his arms back. "Gomu Gomu no," Nevi stops her charge, she goes to reach for a knife, knowing this is a perfect opportunity for her, but he could still come at her. As she recalls, this attack hurts. "Bazooka!" At the last second Nevi dodges the attack.

The attack causes a large plum of dust and the ground to break. Looking around, Luffy tries to listen for his opponent. Hearing her footsteps behind, he turns around only to have her sword bash against him, sending him tumbling down the street. Stopping himself, Luffy jumps to the side, dodging Nevi's attack as she sinks her sword into the ground. "Gomu Gomu no Whip." Luffy slings his leg around, slamming it into his opponents back.

Using her sword to support her, Nevi pushes away the pain. Taking a deep breath, she pulls her blade from the ground, she charges at Luffy. She swings her sword, causing the rubber boy to duck. With her stomach open, Luffy gives it a hard jab. Nevi doubles over, grabbing a fist full of his shirt, she starts to knee him in the gut. Each attack causes his feet to come off the ground. Luffy tries to break free by punching her in the sides, but to no avail. Having to get out of this hold, he grabs her leg as she attacks, and bites down on her thigh. Nevi grits her teeth, not expecting the kid to bite her. She tries to free her leg from his hold, but only causes more pain. She starts to punch him in the head, but nothing seems to be working. She pulls out a knife and stabs him in the shoulder. This causes him to let go. She kicks him away, to give her time to inspect her leg. Blood starts to cover the leg and she sighs in annoyance. Sure she could have stabbed him in the head and finished it, but that's no fun.

Luffy reaches over his shoulder, pulling the knife out. He grits his teeth from the pain. Throwing the blade away, he rolls his shoulder, checking to see if he can still use it. Seeing that he can he charges back at Nevi. Seeing her swing the sword down, Luffy grabs the dull blade. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol." The rubber boy stretches his free arm, aiming for his opponents gut. Nevi catches his fist, and the two enter a power struggle. Nevi trying to get her sword from the rubber boys grip, and Luffy trying to get his fist free. The struggle doesn't last long for Luffy raises his leg "Gomu Gomu no," He stretches it out, kicking Nevi in the gut. "Stamp."

The attack cause Nevi to loosen her grip on Luffy's fist, letting him get it back. The rubber boy also pulls on the blade, taking it from the swordsman. Not feeling the handle in her hand, Nevi's eyes go wide. Looking up she sees Luffy holding the blade, resting it on his shoulder, grinning. Embarrassment flushes her face, and anger. In her eyes the kids grin is mocking her. Not once has she let go of her sword in combat, let alone have her opponent take it from her. If she was back home, she would be tied to a pole, lashed and left there for a week, maybe longer. Ridiculed for how weak she is. With each and every thought, makes her more and more angry. She shrieks, "I'm not weak!" leaping at Luffy.

The rubber boy is caught by surprise. He quickly swings the sword, which Nevi easily dodges. She uppercuts him in the gut, lifting him off the ground. The punch causes Luffy to cough up some blood. Nevi does a back flip, kicking him in the chin, causing him to do a flip of his own. Luffy lets go of the sword, which Nevi catches. She swings the blade like a baseball bat, sending the rubber boy down the street. Landing with a thud, Luffy slowly gets back up. He doesn't know where she got that strength from, or why she's yelling out shes not weak, when clearly she isn't. The world continues to confuse Luffy, shaking his head. Hearing an explosion, followed by immense heat, the rubber boy looks up. Behind Nevi is a big stream of fire coming out of Ace's fist. The attack destroys an entire house. Luffy would hate to be the guy on the receiving end. Nevi ignores the explosion, but the heat catches her attention. James would not be able to cause that, so it must be some other guy her captain is fighting. _"That metal bastard better not have lost. I still have a score to settle with him."_

Grabbing the rest of her knives, she throws them at a distracted Luffy. Hearing the whistling of the knives going through the wind, Luffy was able to dodge just in time. Nevi quickly gets in front of him, slamming the tip of her blade into her opponents face. Luffy tumbles across the ground, cursing himself for not paying attention. The swordsman leaps at her opponent, bringing down her blade on him. Luffy stops himself and dodges the attack. Leaping himself, he slams his knees into Nevi's head, knocking her away. Charging at his opponent, Luffy starts to rapidly punch in the air, until it looks like he has multiple fists. Nevi stands up, a little confused on what's going on at first. She puts her sword up to block the attack, but some of the fists go around and still hit her. She tries to hold her ground, but slowly starts to be pushed back. Eventually her sword drops and the full force of Luffy's attack pounds into Nevi's torso. After a minute of the attack, Luffy finishes it with one strong punch to his opponents face. Nevi tumbles across the ground, not moving when she stops. Feeling victorious, Luffy walks away breathing heavily.

Pushing herself up on her hands and knees, Nevi uses her sword as support to stand as she mutters something. Hearing this, Luffy turns around, eyes wide that she can get up. Taking a few steps forward, Nevi's legs give out, causing her to fall to the ground. She gets back up again, this time not using her sword. "...weak, I'm...weak..." She leaps towards Luffy slamming her sword into his gut, sending him down the street. "I'm not weak. I won't lose!"

Luffy dodges another attack. Where she gets this strength, he has no idea, but he won't lose either. He has to become the Pirate King. The rubber boy continues to dodge a flurry of Nevi's attacks. Hoping she will tire out. Not seeing that happening anytime soon, he decides to finish the fight. Jumping away he stretches his arms back. "Gomu Gomu no," Nevi charges at him ready to swing her sword and cleave him in half. Luffy runs at her, ready to finish this. The two meet each other and Nevi attacks first by swinging her sword, which Luffy ducks underneath. The rubber boy slings his arms back, "Bazooka!" and slams his palms into Nevi's gut. This time she stands her ground, refusing to budge an inch. She struggles to remain conscious, her head spinning. Bile rising in her throat. She falls to her knees, whispering, "I am weak." and falls to the ground.

Luffy takes a deep breath, happy that's it's over. "Oi!" Luffy looks down the street and sees Ace walking to him, wearing Andon's fedora and holding some of Cicero's spears.

Luffy walks over to his older brother. "Hey, where are the others?"

"Don't know, but I have an idea." Ace walks past Luffy, waving him to follow.

Opening his eyes, Andon wakes up to a room he doesn't recognize. He tries to get up, but the pain stops him from doing that. Looking around he sees a few other beds, but all of them are empty. On a nightstand next to his, he sees his fedora, pills, a glass of water and a note saying _Take them_. Doing his best to ignore the pain, he grabs the pills and downs them with the help of the water. He can hear voices in another room, one sounds like Ace and another like an old man. Feeling to tired to listen in, Andon drifts back to sleep. The next time he wakes up, it's the same situation. No one in the beds and pills with water on the table. He tries to get up again, but still the pain is too much. Taking the pills he falls back to sleep. The cycle happens a few more times, only once seeing another person in one of the beds. Eventually he is able to sit up. Looking down he sees his one arm in a cast. He has some trouble remembering what happened to it, but quickly remembers. Some bandages still cover his body, but not too much to restrict movement. On the floor he notices a pair of shoes. Sliding his feet in, he stands up, using the nightstand for support. He releases the breath he was holding. Andon can still feel a few bones are broken. Mainly his ribs, causing his breath to be labored.

Ace and Luffy shovel food down their throats, while Cicero tries to even get any. Elijah walks into the room, bringing in more food. "Slow down damn it, it's not going anywhere."

Cicero looks over at the old man. "It is for these two."

The two brother ignore Elijah and continue to eat like there is no tomorrow. The old man smacks them in the head with his cane. The brothers stop, holding the bumps on their heads. "What did I say?" They start to eat slower, fearing the old man.

Hearing a door creak the group looks over and sees Andon walking out. The three spades smile that their friend is okay. "Afternoon sleeping beauty." Ace chuckles.

Still groggy, Andon asks. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost two weeks." Elijah says. That's when Andon notices the others look fine. "Though I expected it to be longer." Everyone hears Andon's stomach growl. "Knew that would happen." He stands up, hitting Ace and Luffy with his cane shooing them away. "You've had your fill, now let him eat." Pointing at the gunman.

Andon sits down and immediately starts to shovel down food like the brothers. After he had his fill, the marksman leans back and asks. "So, what now?"

"You stay here until you heal up." Elijah says, stroking his beard.

"And how long will that be?"

The old man points to his arm. "At least a month with that arm."

The crews eyes go wide. They were hoping to get back to sea as soon as Andon woke up. They weren't expecting to have to stay a month, but if a crew members health is on the line they might have to. "Can't I leave now?" The other threes' eyes go wide in surprise. They weren't expecting him to be so eager to go.

"No." Elijah says bluntly. "Who's going to remove the metal pieces in your arm, or replace them if need be?"

Andon stands up. "Then we will have to get to a doctor quickly then."

Elijah stands up and hits Andon in the shin with his cane, then Ace. "Why the hell do you not have a doctor on your ship?"

Ace hops on one foot. "We haven't gotten around to it."

The old man shakes his head. "Bunch of idiots." _Just like that Roger kid._ "Well if you're gonna go, then I advise seeing a doctor as soon as possible."

"Our next stop is Louge Town." Cicero stands up, stretching his limbs.

Elijah nods his head. "Alright, get checked there."

Andon bows. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah." Elijah waves him off. "Now get out of my house."

"Do we need to pay you anything?" Ace asks.

"Nope, just get out of my house." The old man starts to shoo them away. "You've eaten enough of my food as it is."

The crew says their thanks and walk down the street towards the harbor. This island has been one hell of an adventure for them. They will never forget it. Cicero stares at his broken spear. He swings the blade piece a couple times, even twirling it in his hands. "You gonna keep it like that, or fix it?" Ace asks.

"Probably," Cicero looks at the piece more closely, examining it. "Fix it." He puts the broken piece away. "Just have to find the supplies to do that."

"You didn't bring supplies with you?" Ac asks, wondering why he wouldn't if he treasured them some much.

"I got kidnapped by pirates before, and they took most of my supplies." Cicero smacks Ace on the shoulder. "Didn't have much time to get it all back."

The fire man nods his head, understanding. Once at he ship the crews eyes go wide in shock that the gang plank is already lowered. Expecting robbers the slowly and quietly make their way on board. What they saw them took them all by surprise. Instead of robbers on the ship, they see Nevi. She is standing in the middles of the deck, arms crossed. She looks like she has been waiting for a while with the huge scowl on her face. Ace ignites his fist, Cicero readies a spear and Luffy gets ready for round 2. "What the hell do you want?"

She simply says. "To join your crew."

**Somewhere on the Grand Line**

Sitting behind a desk, legs resting up on it, tossing a knife up in the air. The room is very dark, only illuminated by a single candle on the desk. After a few tosses, two knives fly up into the air, sticking to the roof. The man sighs in boredom. He has been waiting for a couple hours on the report he was suppose to be given. Hearing a knock on the door he quickly says. "Come in."

A man walks in holding papers in his hand. "Captain, I have my report."

The man lowers his legs, nearly knocking off one of the many snails on his desk. "Finally." He leans forward, his long white hair falling in front of his face. "Now, do we know who attacked my casino?"

The man nods. "Their bounties haven't been officially released, but we managed to get a copy of them. Also, Host sent his list." He hands the paper to his captain.

"Thanks." the captain takes the papers, pushing his hair out of his face, and looks them over. His eyes go wide when he sees Andon's face. He whispers. "Found you." looking at the list he notices the names of the people who attacked his casino are on there. He leans back, smiling. "Perfect." He waves the man off, dismissing him.

When the door closes another man walks out of the shadows, half of him still covered by them. "Seems like things are going as planned." The man grins.

The white haired man jumps in surprise. "Holy fuck Mir."

Mir chuckles. "It's too easy on you Tural."

Tural glares at Mir. He is the only one who is brave enough to call him by his name. "What do you want?" One of the snails starts to ring. Sighing, Tural reaches for the mouth piece. "This better be good news." Picking it up he says. "What?"

A french man answers. "Bonjour capitaine. J'ai d'excellentes nouvelles. Baroques navires ont été coulés."

Tural sighs "English, Jean." It gets annoying when he forgets. Tural has told him many times to speak in English.

"Excusez-Moi. I have excellent new, captitaine. Baroques ships have been sunk."

Tural sighs, again, in relief. "Finally, some good news." That's when Tural notices something. The french man wasn't leading the attack. Yes he is an officer, but the leader is suppose to report the victory. "Jean, where is Shio?"

There was a slight pause on the other line. "Shio is busy, hunting survivors."

"Get him!" Tural orders. "Tell him I have a mission for him!"

"I hate to break the good news, Tural, but I have something you might want to see." Mir cuts in.

"What?" Tural snaps at him. The man is very shady, and can get information that even he can't. Mostly it can be bad news.

Mir pulls out a thick file and places it on the desk. Tural picks it up and examines the contents. His eyes go wide, jaw slightly dropping. "Are you sure about this?"

Mir nods his head. "Very sure."

"Son of a bitch." Tural slams his fist on the desk, cracking it in half. He looks from the file to the list. "Jean! Tell Shio to get his ass back here. Now!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I wonder if any of you actually saw Nevi joining? Kinda threw in some hints during the fights. Oh also, dun dun dunnnn. For the last scene. Plot build up! Gotta love it. I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter, I know I did, and please review.  
><strong>


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: What is it? It's a new chap- What is it?! It's a new cha- WHAT IS IT!...It's a new chapter. Bonus points if you get the reference. So, yeah. Took a while to get this one out. Mainly because I hated how it was going, adding in with no inspiration. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and Favorited and all that jazz. Thanks. Also, apparently you need to buy things for the army. So there goes my Christmas presents. Speaking of Christmas presents, I still have to rewrite most of the beginning chapters. Probably up to the casino fight. So enough of me rambling, and go enjoy this chapter and please review.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28<strong>

Ace walks into the ships dining room, the rest of the crew following after him. Shaking his head, he has no idea what to do with this situation. Nevi was the last person he expected to see, waiting, on his ship. And to top it all off, she's demanding to join the crew! Cicero was quick to say no, mainly for what she did to one of his spears. Luffy on the other hand said yes, saying they need a swordsman and she is a strong one. Andon stays neutral on the discussion, not being one to question Ace as a captain. Running his hands through his hair, Ace sighs deeply, wondering what he should do, knowing he has to make a decision sooner or later.

"I'm telling you no!" Cicero yells in Luffy's face. He points at Nevi who is leaning on the mast, waiting for them to finish. "Did you forget she tried to kill us not too long ago?"

"But she didn't." Luffy counters. "Besides that's in the past, and we need a swordsman."

"Then we can find someone other than her." Cicero didn't usually argue like this, but he is scared of this woman and is not afraid to admit it.

"But I don't want anybody else, I want her!" Luffy whines.

"And I don't want to be sleeping with one eye open, scared that she's gonna slit my throat!"

"If I was going to do that," Nevi interjects, getting everyone's attention. "I would have done it already."

"Thanks for that bit of info," Cicero says with sarcasm. "Now I'm going to sleep better."

Nevi did not look amused. "Besides, I'm not a coward and kill people in their sleep. I want to fight them and you're not worthy of that."

"Oh, another reason," Cicero faces Luffy. "She's a bitch."

Luffy goes to counter, but Ace stops him by putting his hand on his shoulder. Walking up to Nevi he stands in front of her, never breaking eye contact. The two glare at each other for a while, with the crew wondering what Ace is planning. "I trust my brothers judgement, but I need to hear it from you." Ace takes on this aura of authority, surprising Cicero and Andon, for they have never seen him like this. "I need you to understand that I am the captain, and you will listen to me and will not bring harm to any other crew member, do you understand?"

Nevi continues to stare at Ace, taking a step forward, trying to make herself as intimidating as possible. Not seeing the fire user back down in the slightest, she nods her head. Knowing the woman, he probably won't get a better answer than that, Ace heads back to the dining room, his stomach growling. Cicero hangs his head back, sighing. He doesn't like this decision, but Ace is the captain and he has to respect that. Andon easily trusts the Ace's judgement, heck even Luffy can and he wants to be the captain. Cicero figures he should to. Though he will still be wary of the swordsman. "Guess we're leaving now, captain?"

Ace nods his head, swallowing the food in his mouth. "Yep, lets get out of here."

**Later that night**

Tonight is Ace's turn on night watch. He wasn't paying much attention to the sea though. This is East Blue, the weakest of the four Blues. Plus he has confidence that he and his crew could handle any opponent out here. What he was doing was staring up at the flag he had made. He knows it was kinda selfish of him to take the title of captain like he did, but they had to come up with something because he knew their arguments would go on forever. Luffy's sixteenth birthday is coming up, maybe he could surprise his little brother with a new flag design. That's if Luffy will stay. Sadly, Ace has also considered that Luffy might decide to go back home, continue training and wait for when he turns seventeen to head out to sea. He loves his brother and would like him to stay, but he wants what's best for his little brother. Who knows what Luffy will do. Ace stares off at the calm ocean. He will support any decision Luffy will make. He wants to see him become the Pirate King.

Hearing a door open, snapping him from his thoughts, Ace sees Andon walk outside with a lawn chair and a bottle in his good hand. The cast on his other arm goes down to his hand and it makes it difficult for him to carry things with it. He sets the chair down, sitting in it, and opens the bottle. Taking a swig he passes it to Ace. Taking a drink himself, Ace notices it's Sake. "So, off the record," Andon leans back, crossing his legs. "What do you think about Nevi wanting to join the crew?"

Sighing, Ace wonders if that was why Andon came out in the first place. "Why does it matter?" Ace takes another swig before handing it back to the gunman. "You just agree to everything I say."

Andon nods his head, taking a drink. "True, but I know that, as a leader, you are to carry certain burdens, but you have no one to complain to about them, because you have to keep appearances up for the crew." Andon leans forward, taking another swig. "Right?"

Ace nods his head. Andon hit the nail right on the head. He can't complain. He is the captain and it's his job to keep morale up in the crew, make sure they behaved and listen to their complaints. But he has to keep his to himself. He has to keep appearances for the sake of the crew. "Yeah, you're right."

Andon hands the bottle to Ace. "So what do you think about Nevi joining the crew?"

Ace takes a drink. "As much as I trust Luffy's judgement, I sometimes question it... actually, I always question it. Even though Nevi did try to kill us, Luffy sees something in her. He has the natural talent to see if a person is good or bad, despite their previous actions. As much of a wild card that Nevi is, I'm gonna have to trust her." Ace takes another drink, handing it back to Andon. "If Luffy can, then I sure as well can too."

The next week the crew got to know more about each other. Luffy claimed the figurehead as his seat. Why, nobody knows. Cicero did his best to avoid Nevi, spending most of his time in the crows nest, unless Andon beat him to it. The two favoured that as their seat, like Luffy with the figure head. If he wasn't up in the crows nest, Cicero be would practise his balancing by sticking one of his spears into the mast and standing on it. Leaving marks all over it. Ace once caught Nevi throwing knives around the navigator. Cicero was shaking in fear asking for help. What was worse is when Cicero decides to read a book. It doesn't matter where he is, he will sit down and read. Many times has a crew member tripped over Cicero, not expecting him to right around the corner, sitting. Luffy once tried to get his attention by doing many different things. He made silly faces and danced around the navigator. Nothing caught his attention until Luffy literally screamed in his ear. Inside the dining room Ace is talking with Cicero, for Andon 'stole' his spot. "Is he really that stubborn?"

"He is." Ace gives Cicero a look like he should know. "For a month he followed me around the mountain, trying to keep up with me, to play, even though I wanted nothing to do with him." He sighs, shaking his head. "He hasn't changed much since he was a kid. Other than his strength."

Hearing thuds outside both Ace and Cicero furrow their brows in confusion, wondering what's going on. Walking outside they see a few dead seagulls on the deck, with knives sticking out of them. Standing in the centre of them is Nevi with another knife in her hand, looking up at the sky. Looking up themselves, the two see that a few more are still flying around the ship. Luffy and Andon watch from their seats. Nevi throws the one in her hand, hitting another bird. This one misses the ship and lands in the ocean. "Ah, shit!" Nevi quickly runs to the railing and dives after the bird. The other two run to the railing, just to see the swordsman surface with the bird in her hand. "Mind helping me up?" She yells.

Cicero sighs, slightly hoping that should would have drowned. "Well, at least she can swim." Ace tosses over the ladder to help the woman. Heading back inside. "Also," Cicero raises his eyebrow, and points to the dead birds. "This is a sign of a psychopath."

Finally reaching Loguetown the crew gets the ship set in the docks. Looking around Andon notices they are the only pirate ship in the dock. Curious, he knows that this place is a major trading post for East Blue and a lot of people stop here for supplies, even pirates. Looking closely, he sees a lot of the ships don't have flags. Either they are civilian or pirates are afraid to announce their arrivals. Andon is gonna go for the latter. "Loguetown, the Town of the Beginning and End." Cicero says catching the crews attention. He looks over at Luffy. "It's also the place where the Pirate King was executed."

That piques the rubber boys interest. "I wanna see where they did it."

Ace drops the gang plank onto the dock. "Then lets go, we gotta grab supplies, and we should find it on the way." The captain points to Andon and Cicero. "You two guard the ship, we shouldn't be too long and then we can get going."

Andon raises his arm with the cast. "I gotta get this checked out, but I'll be back quick."

"Don't take too long," Ace looks up at the clouds forming over the city. " I wanna get out of here before this storm hits."

With that, the small group head to get their supplies. It wasn't long before Luffy starts complaining. "Ace," Luffy whines. "I'm hungry." He watches someone walk into one of the many bars on the street.

Ace sighs at his little brothers constant hunger, wondering why he brought him along. "Not right now Luffy. After we get the supplies we need."

Luffy sighs, looking into one of the bars he sees a group of people sitting around a table with a lot of food and drinks on it. His stomach telling to just go in there and eat it all. Nevi sighs in boredom, looking around to see if anybody can offer a good fight. There has to be a few pirates going into the Grand Line, looking for a fight.

Inside one of the many bars, a group of people sit around a table drinking and eating. Laughing as one of them tells a story. "So the man says, 'Damn woman, just because I slept with ya, doesn't mean the kid is mine!' That's when the kid burps and farts at the same time. 'Okay maybe he is.'" The others wince and groan at the mans bad fortune.

One of them raises his glass. "A toast, to our new member and fantastic story teller!" They all cheer and finish the rest of their drinks, the alcohol dribbling down their beards.

Emptying the pitcher they see that the story teller and the guy next to him don't have enough. Standing up, the story teller offers to refill the mugs. Looking at the entrance he sees a teenager standing by the door, urgently shaking his head towards the exit. The man nods his head, understanding. Using the empty mugs, the story teller smashes them in the faces of the guys next to him, knocking them out. The other men around the table eyes go wide in shock, wondering what the new guy is doing. The teenager face palms, slowly shaking his head. Reaching over, the story teller grabs one of the men by the hair, and slams his head into the table, crushing the mug in between, falling to the ground. Pulling out two pistols, he shoots two others, discarding the weapons. The last man stands up from the chair, drawing his sword. "What the hell are you doing?"

The story teller tears off his beard and coughs, clearing his voice. "The name is Morpheus, I am a bounty hunter." He grabs the table and flips it over, knocking the drinks and food all over the floor. "And I am placing you pirates under arrest."

Hearing the name of the bounty hunter the pirate drops his sword and bolts for the exit. Morpheus runs after him, yelling at him to stop. The teenager sticks his foot out, tripping the pirate. Faking a fall, he lands next to the convict. "Oh no," He says, heavy with sarcasm. "He is going to hurt me."

Morpheus stops running, "What?!" Rage filling his voice. "How dare you hurt my son!" The bounty hunter jumps on the pirate and starts to punch him in the face.

The boy stands up, dusting his pants. "Finally, we get to eat something tonight." He looks over at his father as he continues to beat the unconscious man. "Dad? Dad, Dad! Don't kill him, otherwise the bounty goes down!"

Walking down the street Morpheus, dragging the barely conscious pirates behind him, leads his son to the marine headquarters on the island. He sighs in relief. "I did good today, huh, Rommel?"

"Yes, dad." Rommel sighs. "I thought you were taking a break?"

"Yeah, but we need the money."

"Why?" Rommel looks up at his dad in confusion, furrowing his brows. "You have a job."

"Not any more."

The teenager stops, his jaw dropping. "What?"

Morpheus stops, looking back. "The damn thing was getting in the way of you training."

"Oh right my training," Rommel rolls his eyes, he's not one for fighting, but his father insists that he becomes a bounty hunter. "Dad, training is not throwing me at a group of pirates and expect me to fight them."

"Why not?" Morpheus can't understand how that is a problem. "that's how your Grandfather taught me."

Rommel stares at his dad. "That explains a lot."

Morpheus waves his son to follow him. "Come on, let's go."

Reaching the marine base, the two see three figures walk out of the building. Seeing them Rommel can't help but take a step back. He has seen some intimidating pirates, but these guys are on a whole new level. The man in the back has a bow, with quivers on his back and hips. The thick scar running along his neck adds to the intimidation factor. The guy in the middle hides in a cloak, so Rommel can't see him. The sword on his back is long though. The handle looks like two people could grip it, and the blade itself nearly touches the ground. The man in the front looks ordinary, but oozes intimidation. He is carrying a stack of bounties under his arm. "Who are they?" He nearly stammers.

Morpheus nods his head to them and they nod back. "Up and coming bounty hunters. And they are good." He rubs his sons hair, messing it up. "Probably better than your old man!" He laughs.

Rommel fixes his hair and thinks on what his dad said. _"They are better than dad? But he's considered one of the best bounty hunters."_ He looks up and sees his dad still laughing.

Another man walks outside, but in a marine uniform. He notices them and thumbs to the base. "You can go on in."

"Thanks." Morpheus walks inside while Rommel stays outside. He watches the marine take down five bounties from the bounty board, each with a considerable amount.

The teen points to the bounties. "Did those three guys bring in all five?" Wondering how strong they are.

"No, but the three with the highest." Those range from 45 million to 79 million. "Those guys have been taking down a lot of pirates lately. Helps keep the population down." He laughs at his little joke.

"What about the other two?" Rommel asks, not amused by the joke.

"That's the weird thing," He holds them up. Their bounties are not higher than the 79 million, but not lower than the 45. "Both of the crews these guys belonged to vanished. They appear sometime later on, but dead."

"And no one tries to collect their bounties?" Rommel finds that very odd. Could be a pirate crew eliminating competition. That happens time to time, but why the disappearances?

The marine shakes his head. "Nope. We thought it was pirates just fighting each other, but it's been happening for a while now. Got some people investigating it." He puts up a few new ones.

"Hey!" Rommel sees his dad walk out of the base, with some money and bounty posters in hand. "Let's go get some food."

Walking down the street, Luffy falls to the ground, too hungry to move. "Damn it Luffy, get up!" Ace kicks his brother.

Nevi shakes her head. "It's hard to believe he beat me in combat."

"Same here." Ace agrees, setting the bags in his hands down. "Fine we will rest up for a bit."

Nevi looks at the building behind the brothers. "You sure about that?"

"Why?" Ace looks behind him and his jaw drops. "Shit, we're right next to a marine base. We shouldn't have bounties by now."

"Hey look," Luffy points to a board. "Nevi has a bounty."

Ace walks over to the board and looks at the bounty. "'Knives' Nevi, 16 million." The picture shows Nevi holding her blade, with a few bodies around her. "Wanted for piracy, destruction of property, and murder."

Nevi crosses her arms, a smile on her face. "Nice, it went up." Looking at the board she sees a picture of Andon. "Hey look, the gunman has a bounty." Pointing it out.

"What?" Ace grabs the poster. Luffy gets up and looks over his brothers shoulder. The picture shows him with his fedora on. The background looks like the street on the last island. They look at the bounty. "'Blue Haired' Andon McElroy, 13 million, wanted for piracy, theft, destruction of property, insubordination, murder, and possession of a Devil Fruit." This catches the three by surprise. Why is having a Devil Fruit illegal now?

"That must be a new thing." Nevi says, furrowing her brow.

Ace wonders if he and Luffy will have a bounty now. "Hey look, it's Ace!" Luffy catches their attention. Looking over is a picture of Ace with his arm on fire. "'Fire Fist' Portgas D. Ace, 26 million, wanted for piracy, theft, destruction of property, murder, and possession of a Devil Fruit."

"What?!" Ace grabs the poster and looks at it again. He stares at the word murder. "But I've never killed anyone."

"Apparently Luffy and the navigator did as well." The brothers look at those posters too. Ace knows for a fact his brother didn't kill anybody. He wouldn't kill anybody. "'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy, 21 million. Wanted for piracy, theft, murder, and possession of a Devil Fruit." The picture shows Luffy smiling and waving at the camera.

"What the hell!?" Luffy screams, throwing his arms up in the air. "I've never killed anybody!"

"Why are smiling at the camera?" Ace raises an eyebrow.

Luffy shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. Saw a camera and so I smiled and waved."

Sighing, Ace grabs Cicero's and reads his out loud. "Cicero Hanabira, 9 million. Wanted for piracy, theft, and murder. Why are all of us wanted for murder? As far as I know, we haven't killed anybody."

Andon walks out of the clinic, saying thanks. He makes a fist with his hand, no longer restricted by the cast. He now has a smaller one, but still can't do anything with the arm. The doctor told him he is healing fast and should be able to get the metal pieces out and the cast off soon. Looking up he sees the clouds have gotten darker and it might rain soon. He should hurry to the ship, plus he is suppose to watch it with Cicero. Running down the street, he bumps into a man causing him to drop some papers. "Sorry about that." Andon stops to pick them up.

"Don't worry about it." The man picks some up.

Looking at the papers Andon realizes they are bounty posters, and the man must be a bounty hunter. Picking up the last one, Andon's eyebrows shoot up. It's a picture of Ace. "Do you know this man?" The bounty hunter asks.

"No," Andon lies. "Just shocked at his bounty."

"Twenty-six million is pretty good, but I've dealt with higher." The man boasts, putting his hands on his hips.

The teenager next to him sighs. "Come on dad, lets go."

Andon hands his pile to the man and says goodbye before running back to the ship. _"I have to warn them. If they are not there, then I'll have to look for them."_

Sitting at the table, Rommel goes through the stack of bounties, looking for someone. "Come on son, it's dinner. Forget about work." Morpheus speaks with a full mouth.

The boy sighs, ignoring his dad. Finally finding the person he was looking for, he shows the poster to his dad. "Look who it is."

Morpheus swallows his food, putting his fork down. He stares at the bounty of the man who helped him pick up the bounty posters. "Well, son of a bitch."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dun Dun Dunnnn. Again. Finally we have bounties. And the reason Cicero doesn't have a nickname is because his creator didn't give me one. And I have been pestering her for it, but no response yet. What's with the Devil Fruit possession? Who are those three guys? I know the answers, but only one will be explained next chapter. I think. Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review.**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: **Holy crap! I'm alive! I bet you've all been wondering where I went, not really, but i had to go through basic training so that took up a lot of my time. But now I am waiting for more training in the middle of no where. Thank you Canadian military. With more time on my hands now I hope to be able to continue this and keep you guys entertained. Now for the long awaited chapter. Enjoy!

**Chapter 29**

Stepping off the gangplank, Andon examines the deck of Infinity. With Ace and Luffy gone, he can 'feel' how empty it is. Sitting on one of the lawn chairs, he grabs a fork and scratches him arm, under his new cast. He can still feel the pain of when it broke. The pain was unimaginable. His grip around the fork tightens, and the thought of the man who destroyed his home enters his mind. He has to get stronger or victory will never be his, let alone his life. As long as the white haired pirate remained Andon's life will never be his own. Vengeance will constantly push him forward.

The thud of someone's boots hitting the floor snaps the marksman out of his thoughts. Looking up he sees Cicero climbing down the mast bare foot, book in hand. The navigator jumps down the last few steps. Looking over at Andon he raises his eyebrows. "Hey," He pushes his long hair out of his face. "What's up?"

Andon raises his cast. "Got this for a little while longer." He sticks the fork back down it scratching more.

"I heard your not suppose to scratch." Cicero slips his boots back on, tying up the laces. "Means it's healing." Andon stops and puts the fork down. "Or so I was told."

Andon looks back at the fork, the itch almost unbearable. "I'll leave it then." Giving in to the superstition. "Not like it helps any, too short."

"I'm gonna get a snack, want something?" Cicero opens the door to the kitchen, Andon shakes his head. "Alright, just yell if ya see something." The marksman gives him a thumbs up.

Standing up, scratching his blue hair, he looks off the bow of the ship, into town. Up the road he can see the trio coming back, but with a forth person tagging along. Squinting his eyes, he tries to get a better look at the person. He can't get details but Andon knows it's a man and can't shake the feeling he looks familiar. He seems friendly, laughing it up with Ace and Luffy. Nevi walking a bit farther back, not joining in the conversation. He can almost see the pout that's on her face. Probably upset that no fighting happened. Andon calls for Cicero. "Hey, they're back."

The navigator comes out of the kitchen with a apple in hand. "Took them long enough." He takes a bite. "Do they atleast have the stuff they went for?"

"Ya, they do." His eyes widen when he now recognizes the man with them.

Luffy waves his arms at the two, noticing them. "Oiii!" Cicero waves back at him. Pulling a stack of rolled paper out of his back pocket, "Look what we found!" Luffy stretches his arm to the ship.

Cicero grabs them, confused on what they are. "What are they?" Unrolling them he sees a wanted poster for Nevi. His eyes go wide at the amount. Looking at the next page, it's one for Andon. "Oh, shit." He whispers under his breath.

Ace looks at Morpheus' stunned face. He sees his new friend staring off in the direction ahead of them. Following his gaze, Ace sees his flag. The captain sighs. "Well, this is a predicament." Morpheus looks over at Ace.

Ace looks back at him. "I guess it is." Just from the tension in the air, the fire user can tell that their new friend is no longer their friend. Behind Morpheus he can see Nevi grinning, reaching for the sword on her back.

"Ace!" Andon yells. "He's a bounty hunter!"

Nevi grabs her broadsword and immediately swings it down. The hunter dodges to the side, Ace quickly following after him. Morpheus jumps forward, landing on Ace's shoulders, grabbing the fire mans head with his feet. Falling forward, Ace falling back, Morpheus lands on his hands and flings the pirate over him into a building. Following the momentum he pushes off the ground and glides over Nevi's blade. Landing on his feet he curls into in a ball, dodging Luffy's roundhouse kick. Morpheus rolls forward, dodging another attack from Nevi. The sword slams into the ground, sending debris everywhere. Spinning on his shoulder blades, Morpheus kicks one of the debris' into Luffy's head, knocking him on the ground. Nevi throws a couple of her knives at the bounty hunter, but he does the worm reversed getting himself back on his feet, perfectly dodging the flying blades. In a rage the swordsman charges at Morpheus. He charges her too. Nevi swings her sword, but misses as Morpheus slides under it, taking out her feet. With her just above him, he delivers a few quick blows to her gut. The attacks cause her to go up in the air more. Nevi hits the ground, holding her stomach. She rolls around in pain. The hunter gets back on his feet to meet face to face with an angry Luffy. The straw hat boy throws a hard, angry, punch to the man over powering the three of them. Morpheus quickly catches the blow, using the opportunity to pull the boy in and knee him in the gut. He grabs Luffy by the shirt and lifts him over his head. Morpheus brings him back down on his knee. The force of the attack causes the wind to be knocked out of Luffy, and he falls to the ground in front of the man, trying to suck back in air.

Morpheus looks over at the other two. Both stunned from what they saw. The three strongest people they ever met, taken down by one man. And now he has his sights on them. He takes a step forward but stops when he hears someone climb over rubble. Looking over he sees Ace standing in front of the building he was thrown into. He cracks his necks. "Well, that was a surprise."

"Guess I should have known you were a bit stronger than that." Morpheus grins, but it disappears when he feels Nevi's sword bash into his legs causing him to fall back.

Luffy takes in a big breath of air, causing his body to expand like a balloon. This stops Morpheus fall, surprising him. Nevi jumps back up on her feet and drives her broadsword into the hunters stomach. Luffy exhales, blowing all the air out, returning him to normal. This causes Morpheus to trip over him and fall back. Nevi keeps her sword pressed against the bounty hunter, pinning him to the ground. "How do you like it, bastard." Nevi says through gritted teeth.

Morpheus grabs the blade and slowly starts to lift it off him. Nevi uses all her might to keep it on him. Ace comes running up behind her, using Nevi's hunched over form to launch himself up in the air. Coming back down he slams his foot in Morpheus' head, causing debris and dust to fly everywhere. Nevi feels him relax so she drives the blade back into his stomach.

Cicero sighs in relief. "Scared me for a minute there."

Luffy gets up, dusting himself off. "Did that finish him off?"

Morpheus' fist appears through the dust, slamming into Ace's face. The attack causes the captain to fly back into another building. He rolls to the side, dodging Nevi's attack and blocks a few punches from Luffy. The fight almost becomes one-sided with Morpheus dodging all attacks, even ones from his blind side. Going up and down the street.

Ace bursts through a different wall his fist on fire. Morpheus eyes go wide in surprise and the flaming fist connects with the bounty hunter. The attack sends him tumbling backwards. Luffy takes the opportunity to attack. "Gomu Gomu no Stamp!" He shoots his foot forward, slamming it in Morpheus side.

Digging his hands into the ground, Morpheus stops himself. He rubs his bruised ribs with one hand and wiping away the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth with the other. Nevi charges at him, keeping up the attacks. She throws a few knives at one side, forcing him one way, and swings her large sword. The group hears. "Dad, catch!"

Morpheus holds out his hand and he catches a sword in it's sheath. He pulls the the sword out slightly and blocks Nevi's attack. The trio looks over and see a young teenager by an alleyway. "Leave him alone." Morpheus say's with venom in his voice. "He's not part of this fight."

"Deal." Ace looks back at the ship. "Andon, Cicero, get the ship ready to leave!" They both wave back showing they understood.

Cicero climbs up the mast, getting the sails ready. Andon runs down the gangplank to grab the supplies the others left behind. "Sucks we have to stay behind." Andon drops the supplies and runs to get other things ready.

"True, but that guy is way out of our leage." Cicero runs over to the other side of the mast to untie the other side of the sail.

Andon grips his cast in anger. "Exactly my point." If he can't even participate in this fight. He will never be ready.

Luffy crashes through the wall, tumbling across furniture. Stopping himself he dodges Morpheus' sword. It sticks to the wall behind him. He looks outside and sees the enemy charge at him. Morpheus dives forward, dodging a horizontal slash by Nevi. He lands in the building Luffy is in and the two engage. Luffy goes for a round house kick, but Morpheus does a cartwheel with the attack, effectively dodging it. Ace and Nevi burst through the hole in the wall, surrounding the bounty hunter. Ace has his knife in hand. Realizing he doesn't have a sword, Luffy looks around and sees Morpheus's sword behind him. He dislodges it and readies himself to attack. "Do you even know how to use one?" Ace asks his brother.

"Nope." Luffy simply answers, causing Ace to sigh.

"Seems I'm in quite a predicament." Morpheus looks from one opponent to another. "Now I'm forced to use it." All three raise an eyebrow wondering what he's talking about. Morpheus closes his eyes, still in a fighting stance.

"Think he has a Devil Fruit?" Ace asks, tighting his grip on his knife.

"Only one way to find out." Nevi charges and swings her sword.

Morpheus cartwheels to the side, then Ace goes for a stab to his back in the middle of the movement. What he didn't expect was the bounty hunter to pivet on one hand, dodging the attack. Landing back on his feet, Morpheus delivers a punch to Ace's exposed ribs. Luffy goes in for the attack, but Morpheus easily dodges the attack. He grabs the rubber man wrists and pulls him in to knee Luffy in the gut. The attack causes Luffy to let go of the sword. Morpheus catches the blade mid-air, and brings it up for a backwards vertical strike. Nevi jabs Luffy in the head with her sword, knocking him out of the way. Morpheus's blade hits hers. He opens his eyes, breathing a bit heavily. Nevi starts attacking Morpheus, delivering blow after blow.

Ace watches from a distance, waiting for the right time to attack. He sees Luffy charge back in only to get kicked back away._ "I don't get it."_ Ace thinks, watching Morpheus. _"He said he had to use 'it', but what is it?"_

Nevi deflects one of Morpheus' attacks, giving her an opening. She swings her broadsword knocking him into the street. She jumps after him. The two's swords clash together. They struggle to over power the other, but they stop when they hear the sound of guns cocking around them. Looking around, Nevi sees that she is surrounded. The smell of cigars fill her nostrils before something hits her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hope you guys enjoyed it. I know it's short but I wanted to get something out. I'm sure you guys know who the mystery man is at the end. Hopefully next week I'll be able to get something out. Thanks for reading and please review.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: And another chapter. I actually had this one done for a while now, but laziness took over. I'm sorry. Not much to say other than please enjoy and review.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30<strong>

Nevi's head spins around in circles, throbbing in pain. She tries to stand back up, but the dizziness and a boot to the ribs knocks her back down. She feels a metal club press down on her back keeping her down. There doesn't seem to be any fighting going on, which begs the question. Where is Luffy and Ace? The bounty hunter and the guy who hit her seem to be talking, but all she can make out is Captain. A women's voice comes up, she seems to be barking out orders to the other marines. Something about finding others. Must be the two idiotic brothers. _Bastards better not have run._ Nevi growls in her mind. The feel of cold metal around her wrist opens her mind. She almost forgot she's surrounded by marines and that she has a bounty on her head. Bastards are trying to arrest her. They pull her arms behind her back but she yanks them free of the man's grip. Grabbing her sword she rolls onto her back swinging her blade. With her mind still spinning, and her vision all blurred, it looks like she missed the man right on top of her. He chuckles a bit saying how her attempts are futile. A fiery explosion behind the Captain attracts his attention from Nevi. Using this opportunity to escape, the swordsman stumbles back on her feet. Once back up she swings her broadsword and she feels it hit a few targets. Shaking her head vigorously, she clears her vision in time to see Luffy jump from the top of a building into the mix of marines. A few of them flying up in the air as the rubber man pummels them. Turning around she sees Ace easily fighting a group of his own. A woman with glasses blocks her view of the fire man, charging Nevi with a katana raised. The marine swings her blade down. Swinging her own up Nevi easily blocks the attack. The woman swings her sword again, but is stopped once again by the swords woman. This time with only one hand holding the giant sword. Nevi scoffs. "You are the weakest person I've met." She knocks the marines sword out of the way, making a huge opening. Grabbing her by the shirt Nevi pulls her in for a knee to the gut. The marine woman doubles over. "There would be no enjoyment in killing you." Nevi walks away.

Setting her sights on the marine Captain who has his back turned to her, Nevi grins at the thought of the challenge he should give her. Add in the bounty hunter and it would be her best fight ever. A marine attacks her from the side, sword raised high. Nevi swings her own, breaking his in half, stopping his assault. Grabbing him by the throat, Nevi throws him to the side. Readying her sword, Nevi gives it a big swing. Aiming right for the Captains head. He looks over his shoulder just in time to see the blade reach him. The sword connects to his head but the result surprises Nevi. His whole body explodes into smoke. It moves behind her reforming back into the marine Captain. He raises his weapon and brings it back down towards Nevi's head, expecting her to be too shocked to move. To the marines surprise Nevi is not shocked at all to see his powers. Instead she reacts in time to block his. "You don't seem to be surprised to see my logia powers."

Nevi grins. "I've fought two others like you. One of which is here." She drops to the ground, feeling the intense heat that is Ace's Devil Fruit power.

The pirate captain vaults over his swordsman and connects his flaming fist with the marine Captains head, knocking him back. Nevi stands back up, spinning around blocking Morpheus' sword. Luffy comes up to the bounty hunters side, delivering a hard kick to his ribs. Nevi shoves the hunter back and swings her sword low, taking out his legs. Caught mid-air, he watches as the rubber boy swings his arms back behind him. "Gomu Gomu no," He slings them back right into Morpheus' torso, with a huge impact, sending him flying down the street. "Bazooka!"

The three stand back to back, ready to fight who ever is brave enough to take on the trio. Slowly the large force of marines surround them. Some determined to fight the pirates, others frightened about their strength. Luffy adopts a squatting position with one hand on his knee and the other in a fist pressed against the ground. His fighting pose. He looks up at the marines, his strawhat covering his face showing only his grin. Giving the kind boy a menacing look. Nevi holds her sword in one hand with two throwing knives in the other. A bored expression on her face, wanting to fight someone more stronger than the fodder surrounding her, eyes fixated on the bounty hunter recovering from Luffy's attack. Ace raises his arms up in the air. The shadow of his cowboy hat covering his face. His eyes focusing on the marine captain wiping away the small bit of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. Throwing his arms to the ground, Ace ignites both his arms immediately heating up the area and revealing the small smile on his face.

Cicero turns the ship back around for the dozenth time. Andon walks over to the side of the ship facing the dock. Using his marksman eyes he scans the city in front of him looking for any signs of battle, signalling where his crew mates could be. His eyes fall back to the group of marines following them along the dock. Cicero took the ship out just far away from their weapons range. Andon looks back at the sea looking at the massive clouds coming their way. Cicero follows the marksman's line of sight, looking at the clouds himself. "They better hurry up." The navigator looks over at Andon. "Those clouds look like they could be bad."

The sound of cannons attract the duos attention. They immediately look over at the docks but none of the marines there have fired any of their bazookas. Explosions around the ship cause the two to duck. Water comes back down around them, soaking them. Looking ahead of Infinity they see a marine ship trying to block their way. It's a bit bigger than their own ship, but still has cannons that can do some damage. Andon runs to the bow of the ship points out his good hand. Squinting his eyes he can see the marines reloading the cannons. Focusing on the tip of his finger he readies his attack. Right when the marines ready their cannons Andon fires a shot. The lasor shot flies across the water and hits one of the cannonballs still in the chamber, causing an explosion. The blast takes out the cannon and the two next to it. This also causes the ship to rock and have the other cannons to miss completely. Cicero starts to turn the ship, Trying to go around the enemy ship.

"Stop!" Andon holds out his bad hand at Cicero. "Keep going straight.

"But that will cause us to run right into them." Cicero pointed out, trying not to get himself killed.

"Yes, but it also makes us a smaller target." Andon reasoned. He looks back at the enemy ship, readying his next shot. Cicero reluctantly turns the ship back on a crash course with the marines. Trusting the Andon would know more about tactics more than him. "Don't worry," The marksman fires off another shot, taking out another couple of cannons and damaging the ship in the process. "I'll take this thing out before we run into it." The marine ship opens up hatches on it's side. Revealing more cannons.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's short I know but I wanted to get something out. Hopefully I'll something more for you guys next time. Like a BIG fight scene. Hopefully. Things never turn out as I imagine them. Well, sometimes they do. Any ways i hope you all enjoyed and please review.**


	31. Important Update

**Important Update**

Hey guys just letting you know that in a few months time I will be deleting this story and replacing it with another story of the same name but with slight changes. Mainly, this one being my biggest change, being that there will be no Luffy. I never wanted to this fanfic with Luffy in it. He was a last minute decision. Another reason for that is that I feel that if I put Luffy in it I have to address certain things like his Father and the poneglyphs and a bunch of other stuff that wouldn't be in Ace's story. Plus we all know Luffy would never join Whitebeards crew. Another big change would that I won't be accepting characters from you guys instead they will all be made by me. I am keeping Andon, Cicero, and Nevi. Only because I feel that they are now part of the crew and can't be replaced. Sorry to everyone who put in the effort and time of creating those amazing characters you all sent in. Who knows maybe I'll actually even use some of them.

Now for the question of when this new version of Adventures of the Spade Pirates will come out. (That will be the new title.) And that will be on the first Thursday of June, so the 5th. I will be working on it till then and try to get ahead and hopefully start writing the Grand Line by the time I release the first chapter. I promised that i would finish this story and I will. Just with a few minor changes.

I hope you all understand this and are willing to wait till then. Thank you all who reviewed and favourited and followed. Those are what really helped me get over writers block and kept me going. Love all ya guys and I hope to see you in June!


End file.
